GG & BB had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine this week. Though both Pfizer and Moderna are available in Singapore, both got the Pfizer vaccine because they are below 18 years old and Moderna is available only to those 18 and above. Other than a slight pain in the arm where he was vaccinated for about a day, BB had no side effects. GG on the other hand, had pain for a couple of days and also her arm seemed to be slightly swollen.

Singapore has started easing out restrictions and now up to five people can visit and go out together from the two during the heightened alert period. From 20-30 cases a day, we have come back to single digit cases. Even India has started seeing a drop in the daily case count, but a couple of days back recorded a daily high of deaths attributed to Covid.

This week’s quote comes from the motivational speaker, Tony Robbins who said that life is a gift and this gift is a privilege and an opportunity and it is our responsibility to give back to this gift by becoming more than what we are today. That we should strive to become better versions of ourselves everyday is my take away from this quote.

For me, I had a super productive week, both in terms of my writing as well as my steps. I made some changes to my daily routine which I will share once they become more regular and maybe that will help someone else. But that’s material for another blog post.

That is all from my side this week. As always, stay safe, stay masked and get vaccinated as soon as you can.

Another month is over and we are halfway through the year and things are the still the same.

Singapore’s tightened controls seems to be working and cases have fallen a bit, but we are still not out of the woods. The government is ring-fencing areas of concern and even testing all residents of particular housing buildings where multiple cases have been detected, with one estate having to undergo a second round of testing within a week.

Early last week, they also announced priority vaccinations for students between the ages of 12-18, followed by the remaining adults who have not yet been vaccinated. Among students, priority was given to students from the graduating cohorts of O, N and A levels and the other students will get the link in a couple of days. The day after this was announced, we got emails from both BB & GG’s schools and the next day, the link from the health ministry to book their vaccine slots. BB will be taking his first jab later today while GG will take hers later in the week because she has some exams coming up and she wanted to finish those before the jab.

As an update of my steps, I have walked till the outskirts of Surat Thani, in the same province about 354 km inside of Thailand’s borders. I am still a long way from the capital of Bangkok, but my route will not take me to one of my favourite cities, but instead will veer left towards Myanmar at some point later.

My reading has been on a zig-zag curve this month. When I was super into a book, I was obsessively reading it, snatching small moments of time during the day to read, but conversely, when the book did not grip me, I took ages to finish it. Having said that, I am still ahead of my goal for the year and I suspect I will surpass it and more.

Today’s quote is attributed to Earle Nightingale, an American radio speaker and author. According to Nightingale, our thoughts determine our lives, we are the sum total of our thoughts and we are where we are in life because that’s where we really want to be. The idea being that we can change our lives at any time, but the intention must be there, otherwise nothing will happen. This is really food for thought, and something we need to think about and think positive thoughts, ones that we will spur us to success, irrespective of what success means to us.

With that note, I’ll sign off for this week. Stay safe and if where you stay has the vaccination ready, please sign up so not only are you protected, but you also protect the vulnerable in your family and community, especially those who are not yet and can’t be vaccinated.

May is on its way out and we still seem to be in this seemingly never-ending maze where we are just running around in circles. It’s been almost 18 months now since the pandemic hit us and we are all going stir-crazy!

Singapore had introduced a tightening of measures a couple of weeks back due to an increase in cases, and this week announced, contrary to expectations they will not impose a lockdown. But the number of cases has still not gone down to a couple of months back, so we’re still not out of the woods yet. We’ve now learnt that Malaysia has imposed a total lockdown for fourteen days from Tuesday because of the sudden surge in cases. And this has ruled out any trips across the causeway for the near future, which is quite disheartening as this is a favourite jaunt for people in Singapore. We do day trips and also short holidays to cities and resorts across the Johor Straits.

Today’s quote comes from Roy Bennett who says that we should not be limited by the fears in our mind, we should be instead guided by the dreams in our heart. This is so true because when we are limited by our fears, we don’t like to take any risks, thinking it will never work out. Anytime this happens, we need to recognise this emotion and let that go. Instead, be guided by what we want to achieve in life and use that as the beacon for what we want to do in life. This is a quote that all of us should internalise and use it as a life principle.

On the children’s front, they are busy with school, though BB’s school has deferred their mid semester exams to the end of June, when hopefully they can go back to school for in-person learning. Practicals and lab work has been moved online and will probably resume in the second half of the semester, though I always ask him how they do practicals and lab online! GG on the other hand is super busy with project submissions and exams all due in a couple of weeks.

My eye infection flared up in the beginning of May and since I had a scheduled check-up, I didn’t call ahead for a new appointment. I’ve been started on a new medicine regime and the infection seems to have subsided quite a bit in just a few days. I have another follow-up in a month’s time, so here’s hoping for the best.

That’s all from me this week. Stay safe, stay masked and above all, get vaccinated if you are eligible to.

It’s another week of all of us being at home. BB’s school had a few positive cases so this week, he had to go back to school to get a swab test done. Thankfully, the test came out negative and we all heaved a sigh of relief.

Classes will be online for the rest of the month and for BB, practicals and lab have been suspended. If there were no cases in his school, he would have to go to school for lab, which has now been deferred at least until the end of this month.

Seth Godin says that optimism is the most important trait in a person because first it allows us to evolve and then it gives us hope which is essential for us as humans, because hope is what pushes us to take action and it is hope that gives us a reason to push ahead with our goals, about the possibility for the future. This is a lovely message and till now, one of my favourite quotes.

Singapore’s covid cases are not lessening and this time around, there are many cases involving young children, many primary school students. This is scary as many are also infected with the strain from India. India on the other hand, is still not showing signs of slowing down and is in fact struggling with a black fungus epidemic. Mucormycosis or Black Fungus is a nasty and rare fungal infection which affecting some coronavirus patients. The disease is caused by the many fungi that belong to the fungal family Mucorales which are usually found in the environment, in soil, for example, and are often associated with decaying organic material such as fruit and vegetables. The member of this family most often responsible for infections in humans is called Rhizopus oryzae. In India though, another family member called Apophysomyces, found in tropical and subtropical climates, is also common. Mucormycosis can manifest in the lungs, but the nose and sinuses are the most common site of mucormycosis infection. From there it can spread to the eyes, potentially causing blindness, or the brain, causing headaches or seizures.

Singapore has also increased the time period between the vaccine doses to 6 to 8 weeks so that more people can be vaccinated. I am hoping that BB & GG’s turn comes as soon as possible.

That’s all from us this week. As I always say each week, stay safe people and please stay masked and with a mask with double protection if possible.

The situation in Singapore has become quite bad with more local cases being reported daily for almost two weeks now. And the variants now associated with India, B6171 and 16172 has also landed in Singapore and this is very concerning because this variant is supposed to have a higher attack rate, are more infectious and create larger clusters. Because of this, Singapore has been put into a sort of lockdown without actually using the word. We’re all now mostly at home and don’t go out unless absolutely necessary. On Friday, when the new measures were announced, supermarkets saw panic buying, a repeat from last year when the Circuit Breaker was announced. This inspite of assurances from the supermarkets that they had sufficient supplies. GG has this week as home based learning which was announced a couple of weeks earlier, but BB was telling me that he was told by his lecturer that they may get into full home based learning very soon.

India has confirmed almost 24.5 million cases is reporting 300,000 to 400,000 cases daily. This is a marked contrast to the US, which though has reported more than 33.5 million cases is seeing a lower number of cases daily. This is because of the increased vaccination rate in the US compared to India. There does not seem to be any end in sight and everyone is having COVID fatigue and just want this to end. Let’s all pray for all of us so we can weather this crisis too.

Today’s positivity quote comes from Albert Einstein who says that life is like a bicycle and one has to keep moving to stay in balance. Life is never static and is constantly moving and so to stay in balance throughout life, one my keep moving as the minute one stops, we will lose our balance and fall down.

That’s all from me this week, stay safe folks and don’t go out unless it is absolutely necessary.