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Covid, take 3
posted : Monday, August 05, 2024
第三次冠病之旅～
病痛程度感觉上是前两次之间，即没有第一次那般痛苦（那次要到第三天才爬得下床），也没有第二次那般轻松（那次则是连自己中招了都不知道）。 烧了一晚所以第二天基本上是在补眠，过后才慢慢恢复体力，不过T线到第五天才开始消失。 原本打算星期五居家复工，偏偏星期四晚上又没睡好，所以索性直接拿了三天病假加上周末，就这样宅在家里五天。 星期四精神稍好后有开始清电邮，星期五也工作了好几小时。
不过大部分清醒时间，除了规划一下每餐吃（打包）什么，其余的时间都用来…追奥运。嘻嘻！ 这一病还来的真是时候。没病的话应该也会熬夜看重播吧，这回趁病假直接看直播哈哈哈。 也没觉得特别内疚，毕竟工作那几个小时都有把该处理的事都处理好，星期一复工的时候也不会落在后头。 但有时想想，瞧自己开心成这个样子，难不成真的那么不喜欢工作吗。 希望放个假，休息一下，能够充够电，至少要耐三个星期，到时又可以放假啦。
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COVID diaries
posted : Sunday, October 23, 2022
So a bit of diary and chronology of how my COVID week went by.
Day -1 (Mon 3 Oct) Kinda felt a flu coming after lunch, that kind of lump in the throat and forced a lot of water down in an attempt to squash it (which sometimes works), skipped a planned run and indulged a bit of dinner instead, but by the time I went to bed I kinda knew that there’s no stopping it already. At that time I was still thinking it could be a normal flu, the ones that I catch when I don’t get enough sleep combined with erratic weather (which was the case the week before). Day 0 (Tue 4 Oct) WFH day, so generally pace is slower and I woke up feeling feverish already. Tested first thing in the morning but it’s negative, so throughout the day I was wondering if it could be normal flu, stomach flu or whatever it is. But fever got progressively worse throughout the day (even though I didn’t measure temp), chills setting in too and I basically spent the entire day on my couch, napping and waking up at intervals to check if anybody IM-ed me, and responding to emails that come in - for some reason not many on that day, and I was responding to them in good time. Checked my stock of meds and unfortunately everything has expired (because I really don’t fall sick very often, like once every couple of years at most) but couldn’t drag myself out of house by now so resorted to Grab which charged me an astronomical $20 for a box of panadol urgh. Day 1 (Wed 5 Oct) Woke up early in case I have somehow recovered and still negative and need to report to office or sth (actually I don’t know what I was thinking, I ought to be taking MC anyway), and I was also running by scenarios where I don’t feel well but try to hide it from everybody so I can still make my Phuket trip tsk. But anyway I tested positive, the second line was loud and clear. So threw everything out of the window and reported to bosses to get my week off. And of course everything that I reported in the previous post about rescheduling trip. Testing positive only today meant that the earliest I could exit isolation was if I tested negative after 72 hours, which meant I would have missed my flight so rescheduling was the only option. Of course I could have escaped out coz technically I didn’t report to authorities and nobody was monitoring me, but it really didn’t sit right with me, plus I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy my trip anyway. Not to mention that I was feeling terrible enough to know that I probably won’t get better in time. So after the morning exertions I slept a while more, waking up only to eat lunch so that I can eat my meds coz I found the panadol to be somewhat effective in the fever department. Sense of taste is still intact, guess I’m not losing it. Went back to nap for a couple of hours after lunch, still getting disturbing fever dreams so it didn’t went well. Decided to switch on laptop and see what had happened while I was away (and also to set my out of office auto reply) and turns out there’s a bit of small drama but easily resolved. Ordered dinner coz appetite was there, managed to eat, showered and went back to bed. Day 2 (Thurs 6 Oct) I remember this as the worst day out of the entire week. Sleep quality the night before was terrible, kept lapsing into this F1 volunteer related fever dream and by the time I woke up, fever and chills in full force, cough arrived and so did sore throat urgh. Caved in and called telemedicine for reinforcements, meds supposed to arrive within 3 hours but they ran slightly late. In the meantime I tried to get some more sleep but couldn’t, woke up to order lunch and ate while waiting for meds, and when they finally came I gobbled some down and went back to bed. And basically slept through the whole afternoon though it was terrible quality sleep again. Almost slept through dinner too but forced myself awake to cook instant noodles for dinner (lol), again just so that I can take meds without an empty stomach and I managed to finish the whole packet woohoo. And back to sleep again after showering. Day 3 (Fri 7 Oct) Day I was supposed to fly, and no I was in no condition to do that even if I wanted to. But on the up side I finally managed to sleep through the night without weird dreams, so that helped with my mood. And I was also craving for random things like bubble tea even if everything I ate had a muted taste because nose is blocked too, and even had a bitter aftertaste to it probably because of COVID. So went ahead and ordered lunch that came with a free drink (but couldn’t taste much), rested a bit after and decided to work. And brain was actually functioning enough for me to reply a few emails and send out instructions even in response to news of TEL opening. Dinner was a full scale zi char dinner though half of it is to be saved for next day’s lunch, but I do feel like the worst is over - for one, fever went away, chills went away such that I was able to switch on my living room ceiling fan albeit at a lower speed, and sore throat went away which was a surprise. And master bedroom toilet down light gave out too. Of all times sigh. Was contemplating just using my other bathroom instead but feeling well enough to take up the challenge of changing the down light, so gave it a go, took a while but got it running. So overall, a positive day. Day 4 (Sat 8 Oct) End of 72 hours - test result is still two clear lines, so on we go. The good thing is by now I can comfortably sleep through the night so it can only be good news, and the fever etc haven’t made a return so that probably means body is done fighting the virus. But the cough is still there, lots of phlegm so I basically spent the whole day coughing it out. But otherwise it’s feeling like a normal weekend day, the kind which I spent the entire day at home. Day 5 (Sun 9 Oct) Waking up feeling hungry for the first time in a while, so ordered brunch. Test is still positive, so no escaping yet. Conditions similar to the previous day, feeling a bit listless alr. Day 6 (Mon 10 Oct) Still positive and no signs of fading. Thing is, the 5 days MC telemedicine doc gave me is somehow inclusive of weekend, so this was the last day of MC officially, but I wasn’t planning on submitting it coz technically you don’t have to - coz officially you are grounded for 7 days anyway unless you test negative before that. But I was feeling well enough to work (notwithstanding the irritating cough) so I did that, even though I took my own sweet time and did so at my own pace - and even had ppl calling me for discussions sigh these people have no chill. Day 7 (Tue 11 Oct) By hook or crook this would be my last day of isolation anyway. So prepared for it - cleaning house (though I didn’t disinfect), changing bedsheets, cleaning toilets, the whole experience lol. Cooking lunch - I had ordered groceries online the day before and nope, still prefer shopping in person. And working too. Ah I am gonna miss this pace of working. Oh and by the way it’s still two clear lines. Oh well. Day 8 (12 Oct) And back to work we go. This has actually been the longest time I had spent at home in one stretch - even during the strictest lockdown two years ago I was still going out for runs, groceries etc every other day. And I had no difficulties doing so! 宅男 indeed. Cough is still happening throughout the day but colleagues don’t seem too fearful of it, so that’s ok I guess. Subsequent days - cough took almost two weeks after Day 7 to fully go away. Usually they only act up randomly during day time, sometimes in the middle of a bus ride so I was quite conscious of the stares I was getting hahah. The usual problem is nighttime before sleeping, I’d cough so much that I had trouble falling asleep and sometimes I’d wake up in the middle of the night for an extended coughing session, other nights I’d cough myself awake but fall back asleep after that. But it eventually went away. So that’s all for the COVID diary, may we never do this again haha.  11 days of testing, my stock of ART kits finally put to use Labels: COVID |
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C+
posted :
So let’s just cut to the chase - after two and half years and many variants later, COVID finally caught up to me.
To be honest, it was always just a matter of time. Restrictions have almost been lifted completely, going out more often than ever given that I am in office three times a week now (as compared with 0-1 times a week during the first half of the year), and as usual I have not been the strictest when it comes to personal hygiene. So my first reaction when test confirmed it was like, ah, here we go. I wasn’t super mad or worried about catching it - pretty sure I could make a full recovery. I also wasn’t complaining about having a week off work out of nowhere although the last couple days of MC I was alr working almost the entire day, albeit at a slower pace. The only inconvenience is that it came during that specific week that I shouldn’t be grounded - the exact weekend which I was supposed to be spending in Phuket. Sigh what karma is this. In hindsight, I maybe should have taken a bit more precaution but it didn’t register with me that the wave triggered by XBB had started and I also forgot that I should be a little more worried the week pre-trip (I think back to the week before my two Brunei trips during these two years and I definitely was a lot more paranoid). So when the invitation to go to F1 came I readily made myself available coz it was too good to pass, forgetting about the likely massive crowds which meant that even if I went, I should probably take extra precautions. Oh well. So in the end I had to pay extra to change one of the legs of my tickets (damn you Scoot) and the major surprise was that AirAsia didn’t charge extra for date changes, only fare difference which was minimal. So we got away with that. The Brunei duo, who narrowly missed the window to get a free date change for the first leg of their trip (coz they were within the 48h window by the time I notified them) also decided not to proceed with the trip in a sign of solidarity lol and converted their trip to a weekend getaway to KL hahah. It was actually pretty hectic coz it was the morning when I tested positive, and I was busy texting ppl in office to notify them, and frantically looking for a alternative travel period for a possible solo trip (my initial plan was for them to proceed with the trip without me coz they had missed their window by then), there was time pressure to get this settled before my 48h window (which was on 11.20am), all while my brain is fried from fever and what not coz it was COVID symptoms at its peak zzzz. But got it done and plopped back to sleep. Anyway long story short (separate post on the long story) is that I recovered without much complications. Day 0 (coz I still tested negative) to Day 3 (the day I was supposed to travel) were horrible but it got better from the evening of Day 3 onwards. By Day 4 I was already able to happily plan my meals and scrolling through foodpanda/grab for options (coz I got nothing better to do anyway). Actually scrap that, on the evening of Day 3 I was even able to climb up to replace the LED down light in my bathroom which actually needed a bit of electrical work (it wasn’t like changing lightbulbs). Actually what I noticed is that the symptoms generally set in quite suddenly and severely, but they also go away all of the sudden - in my case i got a bit of sore throat on Day 2 and suddenly on Day 3 it faded way when I was mentally prepared for it to linger. The second line on the test kit took a while to go away though. Only on Day 8 did it start fading and it only went away completely on Day 11. But I had exited isolation as per guidelines anyway. And actually at this point, two and a half weeks since testing positive, the cough is still lingering although I do feel it finally fading away. And other than that there doesn’t seem to be any signs of so called “long COVID”, nor are there side effects like “difficulties in focusing or remembering things” which some people reported and I honestly thought those are psychological. Stamina wise, I tested it out at around Day 11 and found that I can still run, though I went at a much slower pace than usual and took more breaks, but I chalked that up to the fact that I hadn’t been running for almost three weeks, and I really only ran once since mid Sept when the sister visited. So that didn’t seemed very much affected too. So overall not quite uneventful haha. I think it’s similar to regular flu, you always feel miserable anytime a flu comes anyway, just that I don’t get that very often so maybe that’s tougher for me to endure at times? While not discounting the 0.02% that had serious complications and passed away even, COVID had well and truly mutated into something that everybody can cope with as evidenced by the opening up of almost all restrictions, as it should. Labels: COVID |
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Traveling to Brunei during a pandemic
posted : Saturday, March 13, 2021
So I don’t know who needed to see this..for personal reference in future maybe?
So I have been obsessed with returning home since August maybe (hence this post is gonna be long, warning), when I have all the work-induced, (self-declared) panic attacks. Maybe part of it is that 犯贱 mentality in the works - when you are told you can’t do something, that’s when you really want to do it. I usually don’t even crave to go home that much, just the usual two trips per year. Too bad borders were still on full on lockdown mode at that time. But thank god SG, in their attempt to revitalize Changi Airport a bit, started opening up unilaterally to countries with low risks and lo and behold, NZ and Brunei were the first countries that they chose. I won’t lie, I was EXTREMELY excited at the news. It was partly unexpected in a way because even though Brunei had went through 3 months without locally transmitted cases at that point, I didn’t think Brunei would be a priority lol. Turns out the Brunei-SG relationship is stronger than I imagined. And even though it was unilateral I thought it might be a matter of time before Brunei reciprocates because SG’s cases were hitting double digits too and we looked like we were on our way to get it well under control. Well Brunei didn’t exactly reciprocate fully. Even till today. Yes, soon after there’s the green lane for business travel between both countries, and SG had the Air Travel Pass for Brunei residents entering SG for whatever reasons, but no word on allowing foreigners to enter Brunei for general travel purposes. Brunei simply can’t afford an outbreak and hence were extremely cautious on this part, which I understand, but am getting impatient. I can’t remember how I found out, maybe from my regular visits to RB website but what happened is one day I saw this link to an Entry Travel Pass application guidelines and that is when it dawned on me that they are starting to allow visitors in. Maybe they didn’t publicize this, maybe my Brunei sources failed me but hey why didn’t anybody tell me about this lol. And it wasn’t some dodgy back door policy either, there were very clear documented guidelines and application procedures. Granted, entry will only be considered for business reasons, students, medical reasons (hard to think of why anybody would want to visit Brunei for medical reasons TBH) and “compassionate and other special circumstances including immediate family members of Brunei citizens/residents”. BINGO. That being said, you never know if they will be mercurial and just selectively approve some applications and reject others, so I didn’t dare to get my hopes too high up. It was October by then, and my first thought is to maybe try going back in December, but I still wanted to be home for CNY too (and my covering officer had choped December leave) so gritted my teeth and decided to save it all for February instead. And I am so going to disappear for a month to make up for it (if approved). Also it’s not gonna be cheap so better make it worth. Plan was to speak to my boss in December about going on extended leave since she is bound to have to make special covering arrangements (I know I would, if I am in that position). And one day in December I spotted from her IG stories that Amilyn heading back to Brunei and a brief check with her very quickly established the feasibility of my plan - and so it’s time to kickstart the whole process! I had casually told my covering officer of my intention to take extended leave during CNY period (in my mind back then, if I can’t go back then I’ll just take long leave and wallow in sorrow at home) in October and she acknowledged. Thought I would confirm with her before I speak to my boss and voila, there’s this heart attack moment when my covering officer announced that she is gonna be clearing her (many days of) leave too in preparation for her official retirement in April, which meant that essentially she is disappearing for 3 MONTHS which clashes with my planned leave. I almost couldn’t hide the fact that I was more worried about not being able to take leave than I was sad about her leaving lol. Quickly sounded out my boss, who, very thankfully, was very understanding and still agreed to let me off, coping with the manpower shortage by a mixture of adjusting CO’s leave dates and loading on to the rest of my team. So that paved the way for me to start applying for ETP. But before that, the requirements! First step is to have a sponsoring agency to apply ETP on your behalf. In my case is my reason for entering is family reasons so obviously the sister became my sponsor (it will be the company or govt agency if you are entering for business reasons). On paper, anyway, because I was the one doing all the work. Then, the various accompanying documents.
And submitted. And to my utmost pleasant surprise, the response came in less than 24 hours. Mind you this was over holiday period (not that most of Brunei actually celebrates Christmas but still). I was requested to provide a whole lot of supporting documents - my birth certificate (I guess to prove that my parents are really my parents), family details in Brunei (Passport, Pass Endorsement, IC Brunei, Foreign Worker License and Parents marriage certificate) which all made sense because they needed to verify my family’s residency status. All except parents marriage certificate but oh well, my parents were able to fish those out without difficulty so whatever goes. I actually omitted one doc - my dad’s foreign worker license which had expired and in the process of being renewed and they were on it like a hawk, and within one day too. So had to upload the expired one and thinking if they asked I just have to explain that it was being renewed. But they didn’t. And 2 days later...  And I spent the rest of the day grinning from ear to ear.  Which in my case, it means not obtaining a positive result With entry granted, the next step is to complete pre-trip requirements. There is a list of documents that you needed to show to airline staff when checking in and to immigration staff upon arrival - other than the obvious air tickets and self isolation reservation, there’s also:
And there were quite a bit of courier duties to take on too, mainly because poor Brunei ppl haven’t been able to travel, not even to Miri bless them. New year goodies and clothing were some of the common requests (ok to be fair I only provided services for family members and BFF duo) but as usual my own luggage items took a backseat. Everything in order so reported to airport on 28th January in extremely good spirits. Even though I have not been sleeping well for almost a week because of anxiety and paranoia (see above) and I have been extremely busy at work - not just because of my impending leave but everybody seemed to have woken up in January after the most relaxing December ever (for me at least). I am talking about cases that suddenly resurface after a long period of dormancy too, and some on my last day of work even. Casually mentioned this and my boss saw the funny side of it too - “this is just a phenomenon that is unexplainable”. But mad scramble and it was my most efficient days of work in a very long time. Airport was a ghost town as expected. Shops were mostly shuttered except the luxury goods shops, which I imagine don’t see much business anyway. There were more people on flight that I expected though. Flights have reduced to two flights each way per week from the usual two flights each way per day, and only Bruneians/PRs can leave the country - if you were foreign workers license holders/student pass holders like my family, you are going to have problems re-entering the country (read: you can’t). So I was a bit surprised to find about 15 of us, I guess mostly business/medical travelers although they really don’t look the part (looked more like leisure travelers). As expected, no warm food on flight but they did hand out pre-packed sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Public areas are deserted as well   Transit area ghost town  There’s Bee Cheng Hiang but it’s not open lol  On the flight! B787 some more, guess they needed to keep the engines running.  Snack pack Given the exceedingly low number of flights these days I guess it’s not that hard to space out arrivals such that every passenger that arrived at an airport can be accounted for - and there shouldn’t be any confusion as to which flight they were on/which country they arrived from. So on arrival, ushered to the immigration and there were the typical temperature scanners/airport staff collecting health declaration forms filled in beforehand which is really no different from pre-COVID. Immigration officers checked the extra documents, asked your purpose of visiting, and actually forgot to check if I had BruHealth installed. Luggage collection as usual (is it me or maybe they sped up a wee bit on this part). The exciting parts only happened after this point - customs were a lot stricter than usual. In the past they basically chilled around waiting for the last flight of the day to clear out then they can knock off, while this time round they checked every single passenger, asking you to open up your luggages and poked around. Good that I came well prepared. Specifically I decided not to bring back anything that might be questionable i.e. my (and a lot of people’s) CNY staple of bakkwa lol. Maybe I overthought but this is something I never really figured out if it’s legal or not or where is the line that they drew on this, so decided to do without it for one year, much to the disappointment on Stel and KH and the sister actually hahah. In my defense because of COVID it’s also hard to purchase it in store this year - think online purchase, minimum purchase, delivery fees and all. Did have to answer random questions like how much stel’s COACH purse costs (I answered honestly that I didn’t know and they let me off lol) and stel’s 艾条 did triggered raised eyebrows and all but in the end they decided that it’s no biggie. Even asked a few times if I vaped -.- and confirmed that I didn’t bring in alcohol (honestly I think all the personal stocks in Brunei have ran out by now). Cleared customs, and there’s a station set up just before the exit where a volunteer (most were wearing Pusat Belia tees so I am guessing they were volunteers? Although why pusat belia idk) will check with you on your accommodation and cross check with lists from various hotels that they pinned up on a small board (lol, quite telling how many people they were expecting each day). Once checked another volunteer will lead you out to the arrival hall in search of the driver from your hotel, and the driver will lead you to the vehicle and so on. In my case, I was the only guest they were expecting that night (so they didn’t even need a minivan or anything) and it wasn’t long before we were on the way, with all windows rolled down for the driver’s protection hahahaha.  Arrival hall is emptier than usual if that is possible “风很大” Arrived at Parkview Hotel, similarly there’s a separate station set up for check in, filled in registration form where staff explained some basic house rules during quarantine, for instance only breakfast provided (and only if you paid the room rate with breakfast, as I would find out later), deliveries in allowed but not out, and that’s about it. I guess they already know who’s coming so there’s no need to verify your details and all. Though actually I am more concerned with my activities for the coming days (I.e. my test) but at this point nobody could answer my question on when my test is gonna be - which is very unsettling. But from staff’s experience he thinks it won’t take too long for arrivals from Singapore, so I guess that hasn’t changed. Won’t dwell too much into quarantine experience since I already had another post on it, but just know that I was so thankful for the efficiency eventually when I got tested the next day itself (considering I arrived late at night) and the results came out in less than a day so I was out and back at home within 40 hours of check in lol. Good old Brunei has continued to go on its own ways even during this pandemic - thanks in part to the very stringent restrictions on who can enter/exit the country imposed very early on, they just got it under control and haven’t lost it since. The result is BAU for everybody, just that residents can’t leave the country without a good reason. No masks required anywhere unless you are in the F&B line of work (why them only, not sure) and recommended but not mandatory for other public facing work. Public gathering capacity was at 300 or 500 (can’t remember) but in any case that’s more than enough for regular events, parties etc to happen as usual (heck, even national day celebrations proceeded as usual). Only thing is they restricted celebrations for CNY which was really an excuse IMO (because weddings can happen but open house and 拜年cannot happen...?) but it wasn’t that strictly enforced in a sense that..we can just say we are visiting friends and not 拜年 mah lol. Also quite interesting was that if you were to invite lion dance troupes to your home you have to apply for permit prior to that and issue a QR code for all your visitors to scan lolol. Speaking of QR codes, you were supposed to scan in and out on the BruHealth app when you enter shops etc which is similar to Safe Entry but as I mentioned earlier, nobody really bothers if you do it or not...but as model citizens of course I do. Your status in the app is color coded and resets every day so you have to answer the same self assessment questions every day to generate your code, green and yellow allows you to enter premises and red obviously does not allow you to. For the first day I was code red obviously because I had travel history and I hadn’t done my test, but subsequently I was assessed to be code yellow (because I still had travel history in the last 14 days but I had cleared my test) and finally green after 2 weeks. Milestone moment lol.  First successful check in lol  Code green! There’s also this running joke where other countries were reporting the first arrivals of vaccine shipments while Brunei was reporting on arrival of lamb shipments lolol. There were some produce that Brunei have been facing shortage on since COVID because they restricted imports from certain countries (I still don’t get this logic) - certain veg, lamb, ducks (of all things) for instance. So in most Chinese restaurants duck dishes have been suspended for a while. Amazingly pork is still available lol. Then we move on to the preparations for returning to SG (because I covered my holidays thoughts in other posts already). As a returning citizen/PR there’s no need for application beforehand. No pre-flight test required (those are only reserved for a handful of high risk countries). And returning from the few low risk countries SG is open to meant that SHN is not required even, though you do have to be tested on arrival at airport and self isolate while waiting for results, clearing which you can resume normal activities. So the only preparation beforehand is to fill in and submit the arrival card online 3 days prior (declaring that you are in good health and you have no other travel history in the last 14 days), and pre-book/pay for your arrival test (at $160 now, down from $200). And also mentally prepare yourself for reality sigh. Airport operating as usual, at least the public areas. Which isn’t that much different from usual hahaha coz Brunei airport has never seen big crowds anyway. No docs to check through before checking in (for me at least, Brunei residents obviously have to show their ATP and all). Again, ghost town inside the terminal and about 15 people waiting to board the flight (including a few, according to my sources, visiting SG for leisure reasons under the cover of business/medical reasons sigh - I don’t suppose SG minded that much for now seeing Brunei is really low risk).  Social distancing measures, though do we really need them now that it’s that empty inside departure hall.  Bye :( On arrival at Changi Airport, similar story - because arrivals are so minimal and sparse, there are already people on hand and very quickly we were ushered to immigration where they scanned the QR code on your online arrival card, cleared immigration and luggage collection as usual, and proceed to the test. As seamless as you would expect from SG - scanned the QR code from your reservation, verify your particulars, did test (nose and throat) and you are sent on your way.  Sounding like broken record but yes, very empty  Staff shouted across the hall asking me not to take photos, and the nurse that attended to me later on asked me to delete it in front of her too. Not sure why the secrecy (or double standard coz Mr Speaker also took and posted on IG leh) but I restored the photo later heh. I did think they were a bit relaxed but maybe it’s coz they know it’s an arrival from Brunei (you were given a sticker beforehand which probably identified you as low risk). Still, nobody (immig officer for example) explained requirements to you e.g. how you are supposed to stay at home while waiting for results, you are only supposed to isolate with someone of the same travel history as you. Nobody explained transport arrangements to you and guided you on where to go after you exited - I could have shopped in Jewel (there’s nothing stopping me from entering Jewel from the arrival hall) and hopped on train/bus home for all they know. In any case I had a hard time looking for the arrival pick up point for me to call grab and when I did, I had no issues booking grab and the grab driver didn’t even breathe a word seeing that I obviously looked like I just returned from overseas. So that was a bit lax I thought. I am sure they are a lot stricter with other countries I suppose. I was fully expecting to self isolate till the next morning at the very least but I was so surprised that they even manage to top my expectations - the results came within 5 hours. I can even go out for dinner if I wanted to but I had prepared myself for a couple of days of stay in so yep. Low key paranoid about catching anything from airport (remote possibility I know but oh well) so I still made a mental note to not go out too often for a week at least. So that concludes the whole process. Highly feasible if you don’t mind the extra costs. An ex-colleague asked me if it was worth all the trouble and the answer was clear - it’s worth every single cent and every ounce of effort. That said I still won’t do it that often la but it’s comforting to know that I have the choice to do it if I needed to. Chances of getting in should be quite high. Though I did hear of a story from Amilyn, while I was in Brunei, that a friend of hers applied not too long after I did and was rejected hmmm. So I am not sure if it’s my citizenship that played a part here or they still have a quota on the number of foreigners that can be let in at any one point (coincidentally that was also the period when there were 15 imported cases in one day from UK so maybe their resources were a bit stretched so they rejected applicants idk). Can only speculate. So! Next trip in August? Lol. |
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Quarantine diaries
posted : Thursday, February 18, 2021
(Late post, written just after quarantine ended but haven’t got around to posting it) So as part of entry requirements into Brunei I obviously had to go through quarantine. The good thing is that based on past experience (from a grand total of one friend), quarantine period is short for arrivals from SG (due to the relatively low risk given that community cases in SG have remained low for quite some time) even if they still require you to book a minimum of 6 nights of accommodation, take your pick from the list of hotels providing quarantine services (do you call it a service?). Went for Parkview Hotel because a) it’s one of the cheapest (though I later discovered Higher Hotel rates are like $20 ish per night?!) and b) it’s a 10min drive from home so it’s easy for meal deliveries. And I was very smart (I am still proud of it) to split up my bookings so that in the event I get released early, I can cancel the remaining nights and get refunded (if I cancel in time, so there was this anxiety from not knowing when my swab test is, you’ll see later). The alternative is of course to select the option of paying directly at the hotel (so you can just pay for the length you stayed) but cheapo me also wanted to earn my credit card miles from online payment lol so oh well.  Arriving at the hotel past midnight Wanted to record down the various thoughts and OS I had throughout my 40 hour quarantine, couldn’t think of better ways or platform to do it so here it goes. ******************* 12.22am Checked in! Room is dated hahah. In need of maintenance but generally quite liveable and ample space to move around. 12.52am Just tried connecting wifi. It’s very questionable uh oh. Weak signal. And my data isn’t exactly unlimited... 1.00am Just got around to read the quarantine instructions from hotel. So those amenities are meant to last 14 days ahaha. Can request for more if it runs out but they give more to begin with hoping they don’t have to deal with you later on hahaha.    9.25am Rise and shine! Suddenly remembered that I am on leave and this is not any regular weekend.  9.44am No signs of breakfast outside room, so I called reception to check. Apparently “it’s maybe on the way and they are still packing” hmmm. Snacking on my leftover airline food from last night in the meantime.
10.02am Still struggling mightily with getting stable wifi. Zzzz not going to turn out well but thank goodness I have offline entertainment plans in place. 10.40am Not that I usually eat breakfast to begin with but since I paid for it already I better get it. So called to check again, this time a second receptionist told me since the rate I booked on agoda doesn’t include breakfast, I am not getting it either. Oh wellll. Also asked her to help check with MOH on swab test and she said she will get the contact point to check. Which I think going by the level of efficiency at this hotel it isn’t happening anytime soon (the checking).
11.05am Have taken to shift an armchair near the door and camping there in a bid to improve wifi connection. Still not working great on phone but surprisingly ok on iPad. Maybe only one device can connect at a time or sth. 11.32am Think I’ll start on my book after lunch? Aircon is getting quite cold so gonna off it for a bit. 11.46am Le mum is here to deliver lunch. Waved from window. Can’t believe my legs are shaking.  11.50am What’s taking them so long to deliver up my stuff...and there isn’t even a chair outside my room for them to place the stuff. Every other room along the corridor has one except mine leh. For some reason.  (Disclaimer: taken after I ended quarantine) 11.55am Oh it’s here. They just didn’t knock. 12.02pm This is for two meals I guess.  12.46pm Yummy in tummy! Might be planning for an in-room exercise session or two HAHAHA 1.15pm Anxious to know about swab test why aren’t they more proactive 😕 I don’t want to have to call reception for the third time today leh. 3.00pm A form is stuffed under the door for me, for registration of Bru-HIMS (health info management system?) with no further instructions. So I am supposed to fill in? And pass to someone? Or eat it? Gosh. At least call to explain mah.  3.08pm Oh the call came and OOH I AM DOING SWAB TEST TODAY. That’s what the form is for. 4.33pm Off to swab test! Driver came back from Sg Tujuh presumably picking up someone from Miri. Reception was supposed to call again to tell me what to bring but never did, instead driver came up to my room directly and had to wait a bit for me to change. 5.02pm At RIPAS! Registration procedures (done back end I suppose) done and I am waiting for I am not sure what. They know what they are doing but they don’t seem to see a need to communicate to the subject, so it is a bit unnerving sometimes. 5.14pm Swab test done. Turns out I was waiting for the actual test rather than any other procedures (not sure why I can jump queue too? Lots of people waiting, looks like locals maybe they are non urgent cases coz after all there’s no local transmission?). Same discomfort if not more than the last time round, then I was told well done and I can go. Had to ask how i receive results (apparently I don’t, they will call up the hotel who will release me if all’s well). Then I was left to leave on my own so I just exited and went back to the car. No escorts even for foreign cases? Hmmm sketchy. 5.25pm Back in room! One thing is that I find that they don’t take much care to ensure that you don’t mingle with public while moving around hotel premise as long as you are with the staff (e.g being led in and out of hotel). I suppose the risk of transmission is low ba, since you don’t stop to interact with anybody. 5.46pm Wondering if I should exercise. A bit lazy alr hahah. 6.38pm Forgot how early it gets dark here. Room lights are a bit too dim for my liking, so I miss the sun already.
7.27pm Done workout eventually, with spare blanket from spare bed as a makeshift exercise mat oops. And time for chicken rice dinner! One mouth and there is no doubt where it came from. Taste of home is unmistakeable. 8.36pm There are people living in rooms opposite me, judging by the trash bags left outside before 8pm deadline. Wonder how long they have been here. Wonder if this is the floor dedicated for quarantine. 9.24pm This wifi is killing me. 30/1/21 9.39am Spied (via peephole) the neighbor in the room opposite mine leaving. Good for you! Hopefully it’s my turn soon. 10.12am Don’t want to jinx it but wifi is suddenly a lot better. Maybe someone was hogging the bandwidth earlier?
10.47am Cleaning staff cleaning room opposite. No PPE etc but I suppose since the guest is negative it should be ok? 11.45am So excited to hear phone ring. So excited that results (negative of course) are out so early! But apparently still need to wait for official MOH letter expected later in the afternoon and hotel estimates that I can leave at night. But wow this efficiency from MOH. Pleasant pleasant surprise. So the quarantine is unofficially over and I am just on a staycation now until tonight? Lol. 12.30pm I didn’t get to start on my book LOL. And got through 2 episodes out of 31 Top Chef Seasons 11 and 12. Maybe can squeeze in a couple more later while waiting but that’s about it alr haha. I did get to workout once. And only two home cooked meals needed in the end - today’s is tapao-ed food.  2.20pm All packed, room restored to original condition, still waiting for official notice to be let go 😕 3.45pm The call is here! Let’s goooo. Apparently BFF duo wanted to do the whole visiting and waving from downstairs drama but never got the chance to do it coz Stel didn’t think I’ll be released that soon lol. 4.05pm Showered, last look, check out. The various transports to hotel and swab test costs $15 per way zzz oh well. At least I managed to get refunded for 3 out of 6 nights I booked heheh  4.15pm Official end of the entire quarantine journey!  ******************** So the experience has been a positive one. I might even enjoy it or do a longer one if it’s free (like the SG one before 31 Dec 2020). But of course I hope I wouldn’t have to go through it again the next time I am back. |
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Wrapping up 2020
posted : Thursday, December 31, 2020
Latest in the wrapping up series! Well, 2020. Sure went EXACTLY as what everybody is expecting it to. Much as I didnt want to...everything that happened this year revolved around this, save for the first couple of weeks of the year I think. And it's such a global thing that there is no escaping from it no matter where you are - one way or another, someone's life this year would have been affected by it. So the typical sections of my annual review - each of them inevitably featured COVID's impact, either as the main or supporting character. ************ Maybe let's start with the big one. To be honest, I have to be very grateful here - certainly there is a segment of the population whose livelihood have been majorly affected, and others to varying degrees, but mine is more towards a lower scale. For one, have stayed healthy - as with the other 99% of the population - because we got things under control to start, then when all hell breaks loose - the CB did its job to allow us to regrasp control which we have hung on to it for a while. Sure, there's the initial messaging that masks are not required (because we chose to believe in CDC - what do we know, wow) and the occasional odd and inconsistent application of policy but overall the numbers speak for itself. And may we never lose control of it again. People lose jobs, sectors of the economy shuttered completely (think travel industry), many stopped working during CB and never got their jobs back...none of it happened to me. Iron rice bowl indeed - the performance bonus in March still came against all odds (even though that turned out to be the last one we received this year and the rest got cancelled), no salary cuts etc. We are even able to move swiftly to a WFH mode and work as usual. Of course a lot of improvisation is required but everybody just have to make it work - because we realised soon enough that we arent returning to office anytime soon. So it ran so smoothly that I think it is now something that will stay in the long term. It certainly changed people's perception and changes a lot of things in future - office spaces reimagined, heck, office use itself reimagined. In some ways it forces people out of their comfort zone and showed them alternative arrangements can work - they just needed to adapt. For me, WFH was a novelty to begin with - I remember the excitement in spite of everything else that is going on around me when we were told to start split team arrangement and take turns to work at home. That first week was fun, then it morphed into a full WFH mode and CB started. Waking up 5 minutes before work starts, and being at home the minute we knock off. The weekly grocery trips which comes with bubble tea (until bubble tea shops are ordered to close sigh). The frequent Grabfood orders which became less frequent coz it's not cheap urgh. Experimenting with various recipes and eventually got bored of it and now I am just repeating recipes which I am familiar with (and worked). Getting bored of WFH and actually craving for social interaction to the extent that I am the one organizing catch up sessions imagine that. So I definitely think that our future working mode should be a hybrid and highly flexible one. Maybe a couple of days in office per week, and other days at home. Would be useful to attend to home issues e.g. I can easily get the air con guy to come in on a weekday now. Schedule deliveries etc. ************ Speaking about forcing people out of comfort zone...when I think back about 2020, undoubtedly the other big thing that happen is my transfer. Making changes at work is something that popped up in my mind every once in a while, but it finally happened this year. Not that I actively sought it out (had that been the case, it probably wont happen because of my usual fear for change) but nevertheless, I was happy to welcome it. 8 years in my past job, I was feeling kind of jaded towards the end and fed up at several things that I felt a sore need to shake things up. In fact towards the end the vibe was very much "bye I am outta here and never coming back". I think I kinda send out my farewell email in that tone lol. But dont get me wrong - I am proud of the work I have done, especially for RAG. It got on my nerves sometimes, there are a couple of times when I was very upset about it and ranted, but I am mostly thankful for the opportunity. And I do look back fondly on those days in the second half of the year. There's always a basis for comparison now - be it the work, or the leadership. I have preferences in different aspects. I like the very much shallower structure, but I miss the camaraderie. I miss being in control and being able to send out an assessment on my own - either because I am now unsure, and at any rate that is my boss' style anyway. WFH meant it's almost impossible to gel with your new colleagues, though I am half glad that majority of my new teammates are not unfamiliar faces even if we only knew each other professionally in the past. It's a lot harder to also pick up subtle nuances such as your boss' preference (really, the email can sound agressive but she probably dont mean it), or when she is free for discussions etc. At the end of the day, I think the work is meaningful, I am able to apply my past experience in some aspects of it, but for some strange reason the workload sharply declined towards the final quarter of the year that I don't learn as much, and so I never really felt that I have settled down fully because you really only learn from cases. At some point I got all depressed about not contributing much and wishing that I was back in former division (which, btw, was VERY happening) - to the point that I contemplated throwing letter without a follow up plan - but eventually came around it. Which was good news because my December was....let's just say, I am glad to be WFH during this December because I wont get judged for my lack of activity. So happened that I had a chat with my D just this morning - and at the very least I know what to expect now. This conversation really should have happened before I joined if I had my way, but oh well better late than never. I now know that there really was a plan in place for me to be exposed to different aspects that will be helpful to me when I move on (which I clarified that it may or may not happen), so I find that generosity very heartening. Unlike COVID - I think my workload will spike magically at the turn of the year. And I think I am mostly looking forward to it. ************ So with travel restrictions left right centre - no travels for most of this year. I think coming in to the year I was actually envisioning this year to be one where I put in a couple more travel plans than usual...and in the end there's nothing. Not even home sigh. Which played a part in why I got all depressed some time in Aug and Sep, traditionally my half-yearly break at home. Obviously not my planned break before transfer either - which was a shame. I mean I dont think it made much of a difference in the end, but it's still a bummer. On a positive note, did manage to squeeze in two trips at the beginning of the year - though barely made it for both. The first one, the usual BKK+home CNY trip, very nearly didnt happen too as cases are starting to trickle in and we already had to make more declarations than usual - to HR, for instance. The second trip, to KL for San's wedding - was nothing short of miraculous. I had jokingly declared that I would make the trip even if I had to resort to 偷渡, but there are already clusters of cases by then although they can still all be traced, and one week after we returned from the wedding the mega tabligh cluster in KL broke out (which spreaded to Bru too). And we all know what happened after that. So I was very thankful for that bright spot in an otherwise downright dreadful year when it comes to travel. And you know what else there is to be thankful for, as the year came to a close? Barring a disastrous pre-flight test, I am all but clear to be home for the next CNY :))) Praying very hard that situation remains stable in both countries. ************ This would probably rank higher in my review had it be a normal year, but 15 years after first stepping foot on this island, I am now a citizen. On the surface I dont see major differences - it doesnt change my roots, my character, but I guess it's nice to called a citizen in the country you reside in for once. COVID played a part too, but as it turns out I didnt have to wait too long for the citizenship ceremony where you receive your new IC from the MP, maybe because it was Sept by the time I took my oath and officially became one of SG. It opens the door to a few things - property ownership (without an extra 5% of stamp duty), for one. Though some procrastination later and I now no longer have time to do so before my latest tenancy expires (in part because I planned to be away for a month soon). But that shall be a project for 2021. ************ Health and fitness! Kept up my routine from last year and I think I am where I wanted to be, so eased up by May and it's all about maintaining it now. And building up shape which isnt progressing very well actually. I dont see much difference even after months of effort though admittedly, I dont quite know what I was doing. Fiddled around with the idea of having a PT but I dont think if I really needed it, like, is that really what I wanted? It's just nice to have. And more like "if they can, why not me?" Still, its amusing sometimes to bump into someone I havent seen in a while (there's plenty of them, at this rate) and observe the varying reaction. Another milestone is that I stopped going for phototherapy. Doctor agreed with my self-assessment (really I dont know why I am paying him so much for consultation when I am the one assessing) that my condition has stabilised and I can cut back on my medication (now just one pill per fortnight) and stop phototherapy altogether. The bad news is that there's a bit of localised flare ups, the good news is that it is very much controllable so I suppose we can stick to this routine, which is what I will propose to doc for the next review. ************ Well COVID isnt going away magically at the turn of the year, so I suppose next year will be largely similar in that we are just going to have to keep finding ways to adapt, to get used to the so called new normal, and not lose hope - vaccinations are starting even if more convincing will be needed, and so COVID will go away eventually and life will return to normal as we know it. It must. Labels: COVID, milestones, thoughts, updates, wrapping up |
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Random CB thoughts
posted : Sunday, May 03, 2020
Safe to say 2020 isn’t turning out as planned for most people, even if you had not planned anything I don’t suppose you saw this coming.
Currently in CB period imposed as a measure to curb COVID-19 spread in SG (ok this opening statement is just in case I ever forget what CB is, ten years down the road or something but not very likely huh), which was a good thing they did coz the day it took effect was the day the number of cases in SG started blowing up in three digit figures daily and eventually, four digit figures for a few days. Most cases from the worker dorms (sigh I have a lot of thoughts on this) but after a period where interaction between humans are limited, curve had flattened, at least, the community cases have dropped (another topic on why there needs to be differentiation and classification of cases, also have thoughts). But still not allowed to resume daily routines so I suppose we just have to wait and see. Frankly working from home has turned out way better than I imagined but I don’t think it’s sustainable la. I don’t know how they manage to get the “8 out of 10” prefer to work from home nonsense I am pretty sure parents want their kids in school if that were to happen. A couple of days per week, maybe, but surely not entirely even though we have improved leaps and bounds from when we started in terms of being inventive to make things happen to avoid stagnation of work. Being the introvert I am the idea of being cooped up at home doesn’t bother me as much and also gives me lots of time for random thoughts to form so I am just gonna keep a running list of those and come back to update from time to time (so this may eventually be a lengthy post). 1. I wonder what CB life would have been, had I not moved out from my rented room in Toa Payoh. Certainly can’t cook so probably landlady would offer to share her meals? Or maybe I will just go out and tapao more often? Would be awkward to order Grabfood and not share with landlady. Being cooped in a house with more space to move around sure beats being cooped up in a room. And imagine WFH on a WiFi that potentially gets disrupted coz someone didn’t pay up sigh. 2. Looks like citizenship application, which already took longer than most people I know, will take even longer now with CB and presumably ICA resources all going towards enforcing SHN and all. Still don’t understand why it needed that 6 month to 1 year timeframe to begin with - what did they need to check? Background check? Checks on my family in Brunei? Stalk my social media profiles (and gasp, this blog)? *shrugs* 3. Speaking of Brunei, not sure when is the next time I will be back. Short term travels in are not allowed at the moment and even if you have a long term pass like a student pass or sth, you are asked to defer for now. It’s not even a case of going in and getting quarantined (at your own cost might I add), you can’t even enter. Or exit the country, for that matter. So yeah it doesn’t look like I can go back for my annual August trip, to be honest I won’t miss the obligatory portion of that annual trip but I will miss home and family and friends. 4. Still on the topic of Brunei, kudos to Brunei for imposing the lockdown early on, does help to control the spread but don’t give me things like “our numbers are low because our govt is transparent and trace every single case”. It’s low because population density is low to begin with, mass gathering hotspots are low to begin with - non-existent PT, shopping malls are never really crowded. So really the only mass gathering spots they can close is masjid, which, I must applaud them for having the balls to do so. And schools *shrugs*. They have been having zero cases for almost a month now I think (save for that couple of days when two random cases crop up) but I don’t quite understand how these two cases, previously undetected, hasn’t gone around and infected others. Got real lucky there..or did they. 5. On the topic of regional situation, still thankful that I managed to squeeze in CNY trip (feeling sorry for the Malays now) and San’s wedding trip before all hell broke loose. To be frank I would not trust all those numbers coming out of places like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos etc because I am sure there’s some form of spread there which is not even being identified? Oh well. Sounded like sour grapes. Because sometimes I look at so called success stories like HK (oh that CCS jibe sure aged well), Taiwan and now Korea, and I still can’t tell what they did differently from us so FOL why did our cases spike. Oh yeah dorms. 6. Don’t get me started about my cancelled Europe trip, which, as I typed these out, I should really be in *checks planned itinerary* Salzburg, Austria. Oh well. Trip cancellation all worked out well in that I get everything refunded/vouchers with long enough expiry date, but still very much bummed that I don’t get my pre-job transition vacation. 7. On the topic of work, totally not sure now how job transition will pan out. For sure not something I imagined. But that deserves a post on its own. 8. WFH sure means there is a bit of flexibility to weave in house chores in the midst of work (heh heh) like cooking lunch, working in pyjamas (a.k.a home wear since I don’t have pjs), comfortably typing out a sarcastic email reply while mermaiding on my sofa (which feels like it’s sinking). Perks which I will miss when I go back to work but, like I said, can do without coz it’s just not sustainable to not be able to meet, walk over to a colleague and explain things, pore over traffic plans and what not, and more recently as I told a colleague, burst into my DD’s room and corner him over what his latest email meant (because he has an unfortunate bad habit of being vague). 9. Speaking of which, traffic conditions now are like a traffic engineer’s wet dream come true. Which is supposed to mean lesser workload but I still find myself needing to be very productive at work to get through workdays. Not sure why. Handing over stuff played a part but still. Hmm. 10. Which is why I can’t stop wondering how people have time to experiment with recipes, bake, binge watch Netflix, and do all sorts of nonsense things in order to pass time. Pass what time? WHY YOU ALL SO FREE ONE? WFH leh, not vacation at home...don’t you all need to work? Latest being a FB post by a staff that said because of CB, he managed to complete a project (his hobby) that he abandoned for a while already due to work, the same staff who had issues at work because he need to monitor his kid’s HBL (which I totally understand and accept because WFH with a kid or a few kids on HBL is just that much harder)..but side projects? Unless the extra time is from weekends which you can no longer go out to meet friends and all...but seriously, that much time? Meanwhile I didn’t even have time to knock out a blog post because my weekends are pretty much spent the same way as pre-CB and I don’t have that many openings to squeeze in an extra book or sth...okay maybe that’s my issue but still. 11. That said, I still managed to experiment with a couple of new dishes. One of the things I look forward to now is meal planning for the week, which will be followed up with grocery runs which is now done weekly because it’s a good reason to go out. Would very much liked to bake but firstly I have no oven (though air fryer works maybe and I can do those no-bake recipes) and secondly I would have to finish everything myself which probably isn’t great for weight. Bubble tea used to be on the agenda of every grocery trip until it got shut down as part of extended CB measures oh well. 12. Forced to go out to run instead of camping in the gym and hoarding the treadmill and it’s another thing that turned out better than I expected. As usual it’s the inertia that stopped me from making changes to routine and it took circumstances like this to force a change. Now it’s a routine which I will probably continue even after CB (y’all can have your treadmill back heh) though it’s very much weather dependent. 13. Pretty pissed at keyboard warriors who chimed in at dorms “poor living conditions”, then, in the words of an article I can totally relate to, “go back to being their usual racist selves”, one that would refuse to sit next to a FW on a train, one that points at them and tell their kids that if they don’t study they will grow up to become one of them, one that will probably start a petition if govt were to spend taxpayers money to improve living conditions of FWs. Yeah fight me. Because the govt position on this all this while is pretty balanced considering your racist sentiments (article puts it as the reason dorms are even built to house FWs to begin with) and you have the cheek to come out and act all righteous? 14. Unpopular opinion but most of them do have a different view, culture and practices from the rest of the population. Have you even started looking from their point of view before forcing yours down theirs and declaring your dismay at their supposedly inhumane treatment? Help them all you can/capable of, but don’t even pretend that you understand them enough to speak up for them just to, I don’t know, feel less guilty or something. And best part of it all - those who even think of pointing this out is branded as racist oh look who’s talking. 15. On the classification of cases - ditto. You can scream about how this reflects them as another class of residents, discrimination blah blah - but it’s the most logical way of doing it considering they are all locked down in their dorms now and effectively not mingling with the rest of the population (drawing comparisons with the earlier cruise ship cases). And face it while you scream you are also oddly comforted by the fact that most of the new cases have nothing to do with you, isn’t it. Yet another balanced move considering the sentiments of the general population. 16. Oh and I forgot that bullshit take I read on some countries doing better in this situation because their leaders are female. Last I checked Sultan is a male, not female. Feminists you can do better than trying this hard to back up your stance. Give these leaders all the due credit they surely deserve, but don’t say it’s because they are female how is that even a logical conclusion? Ok verbal diarrhea ending for now. Will be back for more. *********************** 17. Here’s a thought - maybe senior citizens still insist on going out amidst all the advisories targeting senior citizens because...they 不认老 or didn’t like being labeled as old and frail (advisories literally said elderly are frail and more susceptible) and didn’t think the advisories apply to them, so maybe we should just change the advisories to “everybody is advised not to go out”. Or maybe they are just, stubborn (surprise!). 18. It really made a lot of sense to donate that $600 if you are still receiving your salary as usual and didn’t need to spend extra because of WFH (like buying a new laptop for your kid’s HBL, etc). I didn’t receive that payment, but donated anyway (Giving.sg is a good discovery). 19. What if the low rate of discharged cases is because recovering ones are not isolated from each other? I mean, yes they are recovering and their bodies can fight the virus without major complications, but they are still being exposed to it and keep having to fight virus that newly enter their system, hence they kept testing positive for trace amounts of it in their body? *layman view* 20. “You don’t realize how much of an antisocial person you are until a pandemic sets in and you don’t notice any visible changes to your lifestyle” owhhhh 21. Remembered another issue I had views on early on during CB - the whole thing about food delivery platforms supposedly taking most of FnB businesses’ profits just by being...them. Well you made the decision to sign up on the platform didn’t you. And come off it - most of you jack up prices by the same percentage to pass on the cost to us consumers so idk what you are talking about/acting all pitiful about. They offered a unified platform (well it does come with competition but then again there’s already competition even if you are not using it) and delivery personnel for you guys and you all think that that percentage is absurd? Fine, don’t sign up with them then. Meanwhile, as a consumer, if the FnB business did not jack up prices on food delivery platform, I can justify doing a bit more and order directly from the business + pick up myself. Otherwise, I don’t see why I should get off the platform just because you don’t know your math. ********************* 22. The way some citizens behave when facing BBT closures and McDonalds reopening...there’s no description that’s more apt than “sia suay”. 23. Numbers out by 4pm each day, including number of SC/PR - so why not release the full set of info then? Additional info that are released late at night don’t seem to be something that can only be confirmed after that. 24. The one time I agree with anything Donald says - totally don’t trust the numbers coming out from China. 25. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with phased approach to reopen businesses. It’s just inconsistent application of policy against beverage (read: BBT) shops - still waiting for the explanation why they are more at risk than other takeaway shops, to the extent that they are still not allowed to open. And the other poor beverage shops like Boost who got unfairly dragged into this just because they are of the same classification. 26. Hidden reservoir of cases in the community seems very real. But they may well be there forever. And if they can stay hidden for that long without causing spikes in cases..meaning most people‘s body can deal with it without intervention and we should go back to the “protect the vulnerable only” approach? 27. The same stubborn old uncles and aunties who are refusing to wear masks out of inconvenience - may similarly find it inconvenient to wash reusable masks, buy new masks etc...so how sure are we that they are clean? Upping personal hygiene game is really the only way out. 28. Also, temp taking seem pointless? A person may be asymptomatic bah. It’s a first cut I guess, but I think most people are already responsible enough to not go out if they have a fever. 29. Similarly, contactless delivery feels like a gimmick. The person delivering, could have left behind traces on the package itself and even if you are not in direct contact with him, it can still be transmitted to you via the package. Just saying..upping personal hygiene would have stopped this. |
