We finally got more information on the Vaccinated Travel Lane to India and I am super excited to finally be able to meet my parents. And Singapore has also started more such lanes to countries like Thailand, Fiji, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, just in time for the year-end holidays.
Today’s quote is from Paulo Coelho which is a lesson for all of us. If we really think small, our world will be small, but if we think big, then our world automatically becomes big. This is very important for all of us because when we think beyond our small worlds, the universe opens up for us.
GG & BB are busy with school with their mid-semester exams. GG will start her industrial attachment in early March, so she needs to start working on her resume and accomplishments. BB will have his industrial attachment in his last semester, so this means the two of them will not have a holiday together until the end of their poly life, after which BB will be called up for his national service.
A new COVID-19 variant, this time from Africa has been detected and many countries including Singapore have started to put a stop to travellers coming in many countries Africa, especially Southern Africa.
That’s all from me this week. Take care and stay safe.
Another week has gone by and we are inching towards the end of the year.
We got a piece of good news earlier in the week when Singapore announced a Vaccinated Travel Lane with India starting from the end of the month. Although no details are yet confirmed, this has resulted in travel agents and airlines being inundated with queries. I am also super excited about this travel lane and have already started making plans to go down to India to meet my parents after two years. Can’t wait for more details to be released soon.
Today’s quote comes to us from the celebrated children’s author Roald Dahl. He says when we have good thoughts, these thoughts shine through our faces like sunbeams and we will always look lovely. It’s from his book, The Twits and is part of a larger that a person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. One can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if they have good thoughts, the thoughts will shine out of their face like sunbeams and they will always look lovely. So those who have good thoughts radiate a kind of positive energy all around and these people are lovely inside and out, no matter what their physical appearance.
GG & BB are busy with school and we will also start the process of her reviews for her health condition. I am hoping the tests and the doctor’s review will mean a positive change for her.
That’s all from me this week. Stay safe, stay masked and get vaccinated if you are eligible.
It’s the end of another week and well, things are pretty much the same as they were last week.
Last week, I went for my booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine and S did his before I and R did hers a couple of days later. We, adults, have all done the booster shot and once it’s available to those under 30, BB & GG will also get theirs. I suffered no ill effects from my latest shot with just some low-grade headache and slight pain in the arm where the needle was injected. This time, when the nurse injected the needle, it was more painful and I felt all the way while the previous times, it barely registered.
This week, the Singapore government announced that those who are voluntarily unvaccinated, that is who are eligible and don’t have any medical conditions which prevent them from being vaccinated are no longer eligible to get free treatment should they come down with COVID-19. They will be liable to pay for treatment which can be as much as SGD 25,000 before subsidies. This is because the majority of patients who have been hospitalised with the virus are unvaccinated and I think this is a step in the right direction. Why should almost 90% of the vaccinated resident population pay for that 7-8% who don’t think vaccinations are the way forward?
In other news, the European Union has taken off Singapore from the list of countries for which travel curbs were lifted. And with this Denmark has imposed quarantine for travellers from Singapore with Holland asking travellers from Singapore to produce a negative COVID-19 test before flying into the country. For those planning year-end trips to these countries, this may come as a blow, especially since Singapore has started Vaccinated Travel Lanes or VTLs with more than 10 countries to date. For me, unless there is a VTL to India, it really does not make a big difference because the first country I want to travel to is India to visit my parents whom I last saw almost exactly two years ago. My last trip which involved flying to another country was my last trip to India in the third week of November 2019. My last trip outside Singapore was a day trip to Johor Bahru across the causeway in Malaysia in January 2020 for S’ cousin’s engagement ceremony. I can’t wait to travel, though I don’t want to quarantine for that, so I will wait.
Today’s quote is a very positive one and comes to us courtesy of Widad Akrawi, an author, a Kurdish health expert and human rights activist. She says if one is positive, one sees opportunities instead of obstacles. Simple, but so very true right?
On this note, stay positive, stay healthy and stay masked.
In October, I have walked 493749 steps and 319.5 km. This has brought me to the border of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. I still have close to 800 km to reach India’s borders and at this point, it looks to be a hit or a miss. But I will try to hit this goal by the end of the year.
This week was the festival of lights, Diwali and just zipped by. We wait for almost the entire year for this festival and during the run-up to it, homes get cleaned from the top to the bottom and yummy sweets and snacks are prepared. Then a few days later, we come back to earth and move on with the rest of the year until the next Diwali.
The children are, as usual, busy with school and other things, so some days, except for meals, we don’t get to see them at all.
Singapore’s COVID-19 infection rate is still going strong, and at this point, I think, most of us have just given up. We follow all protocols and safe distancing measures, but there does not seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel yet. I know that this too shall pass, but the question is when?
This week’s quote from Marian Wright Edelman tells us that failure is just another way to learn how to do something right. Our mistakes and failures are gifts, gems and guideposts in our learning and growth as people. So, embrace failures, mistakes, screw-ups and shortcomings because they not only make us uniquely who we are but also teach us powerful lessons. So don’t be disappointed with failure, but treat it as part of the lessons that life teaches us.
That’s all from me this week people. To those who celebrate it, hope you had a fabulous Diwali. Stay safe and stay masked.
It’s the end of October and just two more months before 2022 comes around.
This month, I have not really been walking much, especially in the last week since I have been busy with preparations for Diwali which will take place next week. So far, I have made some sweets and savouries, but need to make a couple more before I can call it a day.
This month, I managed to hit my reading goals for the year and any more books I am reading now are just the icing on the cake. Let me see exactly how many I manage to finish by December.
GG & BB are busy with school and some days I barely get to see them, except in the morning and then in the evening after lessons are over for the day. It’s good that they keep busy, hopefully, this semester is good for them.
This week’s quote is a continuation of last week’s quote. Being grateful for things and people around you makes sense of one’s past, brings peace today and creates a vision for what one wants for tomorrow. Gratitude is the one thing that is special and unique to you and being grateful for the little things in life makes life worth living.
Cases in Singapore are surging and showing no signs of reducing. This is quite worrying and is putting the country in a risky category across the world. But we must persevere and hope for the surge to stop just as suddenly as it started. I have also gotten an appointment to get my booster shot, so that’s a bit safer.
That’s all from me this week. To all my readers, Hindu or otherwise, here’s wishing you a very Happy Diwali. May the festival of lights banish all darkness from your lives and make it joyful, happy and prosperous.
