Ben's Visit (Better Late Than Never)

I finally have a bit of time on my hands as today is yet another of Singapore's long weekend Mondays, so I thought I should take the opportunity to finally post about Ben's visit.

He arrived on a Friday night into Changi Airport and I took the MRT to the airport to meet him. For some reason I was super nervous and for the first few minutes when we were finally together it seemed strange. I think you spend such a long time thinking about someone and when they are there in person your mind has to adjust to what they are really like.

We came to my flat here in Tampines and got some McDonald's Delivery, which became a nightly ritual. It was really fun showing him around and bringing him to all the places I tell him about on the phone, like the hawker centre where I get my dinner every night and the waffle place I get my Kaya waffles. Ben loved them and now understands why I rave about how tasty kaya is. He even brought some home with him.

For a big chunk of his visit we stayed at my friend's flat while he was in Borneo so that we could stay out of the way of my roomates and their elderly father who is staying with us now.

Aside from enjoying our time together, it was really cool to see Ben be able to use his Chinese. I remember one day when we went to a hakwer centre and he ordered in Mandarin from the hawker uncle and the entire place went quiet as people turned to look at the ang moh who had just used such perfect Chinese. People loved talking to him about China and how he learned Chinese (he taught himself) and it was great to see him so in his element. People are still telling me how perfect his dialect is and how impressed they are.

It turns out that the girl who does my nails and doesn't speak English is from Putian, the same place Ben lived while he was there and they spent the whole time I was getting my nails done chatting.

In terms of the fun touristy things we did, we spent a few nights at Marina Bay looking at the skyline and gambling in the casino. We went on the Singapore Flyer, to the Science Centre to see Snow City and to Sentosa one night to check it out. We explored Little India and Arab Street and I started to get an actual sense of where things are in relation to each other. We also spent a lot of time shopping as there are so many malls here. While he was here we also ate a lot, we had French, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Western, Italian, Indian and Malay food and we enjoyed it a lot. One night we tried out Mario Batali's restaurant in Marina Bay Sands and it was fantastic. The lovely thing about Singapore is the array of amazing food you can find and I can tell you I gained a few pounds while he was here! He also came into my school one afternoon while I had my drama students preparing for our Founder's Day presentation and they are still talking about his perfect Chinese accent and how "hot" he is. I can't say I disagree.

We also spent a night at a great hotel on Orchard Road called the Quincy which has a really cool pool that looks out over the city. Ben's mum sent us the cash, so thank you Ruth Anne! We kept saying how much we wanted to live there because it was so nice.

It was also great to introduce the guy I talk about all the time to my friends here and to meet Ben's friend Jocelyn who moved to Singapore after she taught with him in Putian. I think it was really cool for them to catch up and get to see each other and it was really nice to meet another of Ben's friends.

Overall, it was just super relaxing to have a holiday together and spend some time chilling out. I read some books, we watched a lot of ER and slept in every day. Not having to think about the 12 hour time difference or co-ordinate phone calls was a wonderful break from the reality we have both been living for the past three months.

Saying goodbye was really tough, and I won't soon forget the pain I felt as I watched him walk away from me and back to my flat to gather his stuff and catch his plane while I had to return to work. But I'm really grateful that we had the time together and it's amazing to me that so soon after I left I was able to see him again and have him experience the life I've built here. I feel a lot less lonely since he's been here and my room feels more like a place that we've shared and less like a fortress of solitude. It helps that he hid about a dozen little notes with sweet messages on them all through my stuff that I am still trying to find.

Neither of us knows what is going to happen in the future for us, or when we or if we are ever going to be able to be together but having the memories of his time here with me is something I can't put a price on.