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 15^th, 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)

We quickly finished our delicious lunch, and went over to where we were meeting the others. I had invited Coca, Corliss and Blip as well. Coca and Blip were also amongst the twenty translators I had hired back then. As for Corliss, she is Coca’s actual sister! I had met Corliss back in April because she was doing an exchange at the University of Toronto for a semester. At the time, I didn’t even know anything about her. I only knew of Coca, her sister, and we had worked closely together because of Court Lady.

Anyway, several months ago, we put Coca and Corliss on a novel together after I had tested Corliss. And when I found out she was in Toronto as well, I wanted to meet up with her.

At the time, Corliss said she was actually done her semester, and was leaving in a few days, so we immediately set up a time. We went to get bubble tea at Chatime, and I also took her to the Graffiti Alley! I recalled it was 7 degrees that day, and Corliss wasn’t even wearing a jacket and said it was warm. I wonder how she survives in Singapore.

Corliss was extremely friendly and chill. She thought I was close to her age, so she was very stunned when I told her I was over a decade older than her (sobs). I guess that’s a good thing!? Hopefully the wrinkles won’t be popping out so soon. Anyhow, we chatted for at least three hours, and had a very nice time even though we didn’t know anything about each other initially!!

I told her that if I were coming to Singapore, I’d love to meet her and her sister and Blip. Blip is actually close friends with Coca in real life. Corliss said she knows of Blip, but doesn’t know him well.

As for Blip, we had spoken quite a lot over the past two to three years. In fact, I think he’s read all my blog posts! He told me he found them interesting, and would ask me when I’d upload new posts after months of no updates. I’m very grateful he takes the time to read them! Thanks, Blip! Sorry I’m such a lazy blogger. I will try to finish blogging my Singaporean trip before the month ends, but I highly doubt I’ll finish.

By the way, Blip actually helped translate more than half of Invincible. If you guys don’t remember what I’m talking about, I’m referring to the joke from my LA post. I also joked with Blip and asked him if he felt invincible for translating Invincible. AHAHAHAHA. But I never made the joke in person, so I don’t know what his true reaction is. Hmm.

Blip actually came to Toronto back in August. I was SUPPOSED to meet him at Union Station on August 3^rd. However, because I had Covid, and I was stuck in LA, I wasn’t able to meet up with him until the 9^th. Luckily, he had a friend here, and also friends of his friend took him around and they had a blast together.

On a side note, I had told Blip that he should NOT check in his luggage because our situation at the airport was extremely chaotic.

He ended up checking them in, but didn’t receive them until the 12^th, the day before he was leaving. Poor Blip. He had to go to the airport to search for his luggage, and they wouldn’t even let him go into the room unless he knew exactly where it was. He said he regretted not putting his air tag inside. Apple has these air tags that allow you to track where your things are. Do your own research if you’re curious.

Blip actually complained to me and said, “Did you know Pearson Airport is the WORST airport in the world?” LOLOLOL. I know. I also read it on the news. Hopefully, we will redeem ourselves.

Anyway, it was really nice to see Blip again!! I actually felt quite bad because I didn’t have time to see Blip again after today (Sept 10^th). He still has school, so it was difficult for him to travel back and forth, as he lived on campus, and my schedule was insanely packed. Next time I visit, I’ll set a whole day free so he could just take me to his favourite spots. Most likely, I’ll ask the same group. I would say I’d invite more people, but it’s very hard to chat once you get over five or six people. I feel like people just end up breaking into small groups.

Now, back to the escape room. Coca was the only one that I hadn’t met, since I had already seen Corliss back in April and Blip back in August. I kind of gave them semi hugs because I was actually sweating quite a lot by the time we had arrived at the location. I think it might have been the hottest day that I was in Singapore that week.

They were drinking some dark green juice. I forgot what it was. HAHAHA. It looked kind of gross, but I tried some of Corliss’ drink when she offered it. It was definitely a fruit I had never tried in my life. Very interesting.

After saying hi to everyone, the escape room person told us we had to head outside, walk down the street, and then go upstairs to our escape room. I was actually shocked. I feel like Singapore has so little space that they always make people go around to other places to use their facilities/rooms (especially the washrooms).

So, we walked around the block and found the spot we had to go to and went up the stairs. It was really, really hot. Luckily, the room had a lot of AC.

I had chosen an escape room where we had to solve a murder mystery. It was kind of creepy. There were a lot of things we could scan the QR code and get hints. It was hilarious in a way because the characters were supposed to be “Caucasian”, but most of them sounded Singaporean when we were playing the clips on the screen with the clues displayed.

There were a few rooms, but I was really scared, I kept hiding behind people because I was scared a body or something would pop out.

We found and solved some hints, and eventually opened all the doors. One of the rooms had lockers, and a bloodstained bed sheet in a bin. There was also another room that looked like a powder/make up room, and one more room where the body was found (it was hung), and it was so dark and creepy.

In the main room, we were going through the files and going through the hints. I forgot what happened, but we did something and then a song started playing, and it was sooooo freaky (the song was actually a hint too). I was glad I had so many people with me.

There was also a frame in which we managed to open the lock, and there were guns and clues behind it.

This was actually two months ago, so I don’t remember all too clearly; we didn’t end up solving the escape room, but we were somewhat close.

I’d say it wasn’t too much of an escape room, since it felt more like a murder mystery. It was still nice to have done it with my friends though.

After the escape room, Coca had to leave because she was actually going on a trip to Malaysia with her friends. She had delayed a day already since her friends had left the night before. So, we walked her to the bus station nearby, and then we went to the 2D café!

I wanted to go to the 2D café because the pictures looked so cool on Instagram. However, it wasn’t actually that cool after I got there. I guess everything just looks better on Instagram.

I tried to take some pics, but they didn’t turn out as cool as I had hoped. It was still a neat experience though.

We ordered some drinks and shared a big platter and chatted some more. I told them that I noticed Singaporeans don’t really make much eye contact. I said, in the west, when we want someone’s attention, we usually make eye contact with a server or someone to get their attention. But in Singapore, it seemed like people don’t really get a specific person’s attention.

Limit said, “You just go. Excuse me! And hope someone will come.” AHAHAHAHAHA.

After we ate, we walked back to the mall where Limit had parked his car. By the time we got back, I was sweating like no tomorrow. We decided to get bubble tea, and it was actually a lot cheaper compared to Canada.

Canadian prices are so crazy. Nowadays, you need to pay at least $7-$8 for a bubble tea, and that is not even including tax or tips. It was around $4 for the one we bought, and if you are a student, you even get a discount!

After we got our drinks, we walked around the mall for a bit. The shops were all very tiny and cute. We also walked inside a bookstore. It was very interesting, because the bookstore looked so different from what I’m used to. They sell a lot more accessories and Japanese magazines.

I also commented and said that the Singaporean clothes looked so much nicer compared to our clothes. Corliss said Singaporeans are trying to copy the Korean style. I’m not sure. But I think Asian clothes are so much cuter in general.

We walked inside another Playdress, and I asked Blip and Limit what they thought looked cute on a girl. And they said, “It depends on the girl, since something that looks cute on one person may not look good on another.” Wise answer. lol

Anyway, we walked a bit, and by the time it was 5ish or so, me and Blip had to head over to our dinner spot to meet Choufleur!

We went to 海南宝 or something like that. Choufleur wanted me to try different types of cuisines while I was in Singapore!

Choufleur is one of my volare translators!! She’s the translator of Bone Painting Coroner. Chou was one of the first applicants that I had personally gone through when I took over as the manager four years ago. If you guys like mystery, romance, and ancient stuff, I’d recommend checking out BPC! I’ve read every chapter since I’ve followed it for years!

Chou has been less active the recent years, but we used to talk a lot on volare. It was mainly in the group channels, but she had always been so friendly and nice! We would talk about all the cute guys we watched in dramas. Haha. I have yet to watch Word of Honor though! (I will watch it one day)

Chou is a huge fan of rock climbing, and we were supposed to go on Day 3. (We didn’t end up going. I will explain in the Day 3 post since this post is already so long).

Anyway, Chou wanted me to try all the different types of dishes that Singapore had to offer. I was very happy she came out to meet me despite her busy schedule. We ordered a bunch of items to share. Blip and Chou said the Chicken rice was “no pass”. Haha. I guess I’d have to try it elsewhere next time. Check out my Instagram for the pics, because a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’m not good at describing food.

My favourite dish that night was probably the pumpkin congee. I found a lot of dishes quite spicy.

After dinner, I once again had to go outside to use the toilet. It was actually quite a hassle because I literally had to exit the restaurant, and walk around the building; it was located at the back. This was definitely something that I was not used to.

Anyway, we took the Grab to Night Safari next! Although the subway is very good in Singapore, it was a bit too difficult to get to Night Safari from where we were, so Blip and Chou said it was best to take the Grab.

We arrived around 30 minutes later, and by then, it was around 7:15-7:30pm. We immediately got on the train tour thing, and the driver drove us through the Night Safari and we were introduced to the animals around us over the speakers. It was kind of smelly, but I think that’s just normal for animals. (Please don’t be offended, animal lovers!)

However, because it was so dark, it was quite hard to see. I tried to take pictures with my phone, but they came out very poorly due to the limited lighting. So, sorry I have no pictures to show you!

After we were done with the tour, we walked and explore the area ourselves. It was kind of cool! We also heard random tapping sounds playing from time to time. Chou said it must be to scare the animals from coming across our path.

We then went to watch a show at 9:30pm. The presenter introduced us to different animals, and they showed off their skills. It was neat. She was extremely engaging and spoke multiple languages (though, she wasn’t fluent in all).

By the time we had left, it was already 10:30pm. I think I got back to my hotel by midnight. The next day, I would be up by 6:45am because I had to leave my hotel by 7:30am to get to my next destination.

P.S. I was really happy that Chou and Blip came to Night Safari with me. Night Safari was a nice experience, but it’s also not something I would choose to do again. Nonetheless, I’m glad I went!! Thank you for reading my Day 2 adventures, and stay tuned for Day 3!