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.

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.

Today’s quote is gold in my opinion. I have written about having an attitude of gratitude and this is something I have been doing for some months now. When one starts to acknowledge and be grateful to what we already have in our lives, we already find ourselves enriched and abundant. If you haven’t already started doing so, please take a few minutes each day to pen down what you are grateful for in your life that day.

GG & BB have started school with BB already having physical lessons on a compressed schedule and GG still on virtual classes, but she will start going to school a few times a week from Monday.

With more and more Vaccinated Travel Lanes starting from Singapore, I am waiting for when there will be a VTL with India so not only can I go down and meet my parents, but my helper R can go home and get her son married off. She is insisting that at least I go with her for the wedding, but unless there is quarantine-free travel available, this will not be possible.

We’ve started prepping for the biggest Indian festival – Diwali and from next week, I will start making the sweets and savouries I usually make. I am quite excited about the festival as its one that’s close to every Indian’s heart.

That’s all from us this week, take care and stay safe everyone.

I absolutely love this week’s quote which comes to us courtesy of Joyce Meyer. She says a truly content and thankful person is the happiest person around and that is so true. If you are thankful for and are content with what you have, you are happier than the richest person around you. Simple, effective and so very true.

This week is the last week of holidays before school starts for BB & GG. BB has all in-person lessons but compressed into three days while GG has a combination of home based and in-person learning.

Over the weekend, one by one, we were felled by a bad cold, starting with BB, so the weekend is going by by drinking lots of fluids, lemon and ginger teas. It’s almost 18 months since I last got a cold and I for one, don’t really miss it. I think our increased general hygiene has a lot to contribute to this.

Singapore has opened VTLs or Vaccinated Travel Lanes with 11 countries now, including Brunei Darussalam, Germany, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Korea. This means that those coming back from these countries need not quarantine themselves after coming back. I am waiting for a VTL to start between Singapore and India, but it does not look to happen anytime soon. I hope though there’s a VTL with India at least by early next year so I can go to India to visit my parents.

S and I will also be eligible for the booster shot and we should get it as soon as hit hit the six month mark from our second dose, so that should happen sometime next month.

That’s all from me this week. Stay safe people.