It’s the end of another week and things are pretty much the same. Covid cases seem to be increasing in Singapore, especially of the newer omicron subvariants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, that account for about 30% of new Covid-19 cases recently. I wonder when we will ever go back to some semblance of normal. And I feel like a broken record saying this all the time, but what can we also do? Everytime we think we are over the hill, a new obstacle comes up and we take one step forward and two steps back.

Today’s quote is courtesy of one of my favourite authors, especially for children, Roald Dahl. This quote is part of a larger sentence which goes like this:

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

Roald Dahl

Magic was very important to Dahl who believed it to be transformative and provided a way out of a difficult situation or an escape from a dull or harsh reality into a stranger, more exciting world. Acording to Dahl, it is all about using the eyes. If we closely at something and observe minutely, it’s amazing what wonders will pop up and that true magic often begins in minute observation.

There’s nothing to update about BB & GG as they are busy with school and internship and nothing has changed since last week. Work-wise, I am also at the same place, though I am hustling for new clients, but nothing has happened that as well. I am still hopeful that something will change and soon.

And on that note, please continue to remain safe and stay masked.

Today’s quote is from the Buddha who tells us that we become what we think. This is the core meaning behind the law of manifestation where what you think deeply about manifests in your life. And I think I needed this quote this week because of certain things that are not going my way in my life. I need to be more positive and try to manifest better things in life.

Our lives are as usual and BB and GG are busy with school and work. They both fell sick this week, most likely I passed my flu to them. Because they need to get a doctor’s note to miss school and work, they went to the doctor who ruled out COVID after an ART test. BB also got an ear infection, but both are better now and will go back to school this week.

We also have a public holiday tomorrow due to Hari Raya Haji or Eid al-Adha, the second and biggest of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam. It’s nice to have a long weekend and after this one and National Day next month, we will have our next public holiday in October for Diwali.

Singapore’s Omicron wave has peaked and cases have started to fall, but we are still not out of the woods yet. We need to continue to be vigilant and stay as safe as possible. And on that note, have a wonderful week and talk soon!

This week was super productive for me in terms of writing and I managed to write something almost every day. But I also fell sick this week which was a bummer. After almost two years, I finally succumbed to a bout of a bad cough, cold and headache and that was enough to make me drowsy and lethargic towards the end of the week. Any one of the three is bad, but when you are hit with the triumvirate, it pulls you down and really makes you just want to rest till you are better. Anyway, I know that a cold will get better on its own and there’s nothing much you can do except rest and hydrate yourself, which is what I am doing.

This week’s quote does not seem to have an author, but it’s a very profound one. The quote says that someone who is truly happy is one who enjoys the scenery while on a detour. What this means is that even when things do not go our way, we should enjoy what comes to us and not grumble and gripe about the situation. Something to think about, right?

We’ve reached the halfway point in the year and the second half beckons us. This month, I have been reading quite a bit and am slowly, but steadily I am inching toward my annual reading goals. I am in West Bengal, in the city of Jalpaiguri, in the chicken neck that separates India and Bangladesh. I have about 100 km to reach the state of Bihar and then the Gangetic plains before I move south to Madhya Pradesh and finally Maharashtra.

BB and GG are busy with their school and internship respectively and that is going on well. GG will soon start her applications to university and this proves to be a high-stress situation. BB will go on to enlist in his National Service and after that, he will decide if he wants to go on to university or start working.

COVID-19 cases have exploded in Singapore and in many places in the world, so we need to be careful. After more than two years, we have COVID fatigue and wonder when and if we will ever go back to a sense of normalcy.

On that note, please still maintain hygiene and stay masked as much as you can. Be safe and see you next week.

Today’s quote is from Maya Angelou, the poet, writer and civil rights activist who exhorts us to try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. What this quote means is that we should be willing to just listen when people want to vent, we should acknowledge what they are feeling and maybe help them work through their feelings and concerns. Where there is hope, there is light and we all know that behind every cloudy and rainy day there is a rainbow waiting to emerge and so let us be that rainbow when someone has a cloudy day.

BB’s new term starts tomorrow and it will be his last one in school before his internship and then the end of his course. He has also applied for some internships, but we haven’t heard back yet about the results. If the internship does not pan out, he will end up doing a final year project mentored by one of his teachers. GG is still busy with her internship which will end sometime in August and after that, she will go back to school for her last semester. During the last semester, she also needs to start working on her university applications.

As usual, the weather has been hot and humid with some rain here and there and the heat is crazy. The rains make it worse because when the rains stop, the heat becomes unbearable. Because of the resumption of travel, COVID-19 have begun to rise in Singapore. This was expected but is still worrying. We’ve all been vaccinated and had our booster shot almost six months back, so I am worried if our vaccinations are even effective now. S is now eligible for his second booster and will take it soon and I am waiting for the government to announce my turn for the second booster.

That’s all from me this week. Take care and remain vigilant. Covid is still amongst us, so we should continue to practice the good hygiene habits we’ve learnt so far.