Daily Life: Day 5 of Isolation order due to Covid-19 infection (Oct 22)

 Day 5 of 10 days isolation order

Since the start of my isolation order on oct 18, I have been cooking for lunch while buying dinner. That way I still get to eat outside food and don't need to keep a large stock of food in the house.

I have since run out of fresh bread and decide to go shopping online on qoo10 and found got cake for sale. its not cheap at $8.50 a box but can last for 3 days. I also bought some cheese 1/2 dough and waffles to have it with my ice-cream. 

some food variety is important for the mood. I also start to prepare for weekend dinner so will order some hawker centre food instead and get a extra serving of rice to make fried rice over the weekends.

Taking stock I will still be in quarantine for another 5 days so have to make the food last without buying more food than necessary.

I still have prawns, tomato, carrots, mushroom, kimchi, korean dumplings, pork belly sabu sabu, chinese dumplings and wanton. 

Daily Life: Day 4 of Isolation order due to Covid-19 infection (Oct 21)

 Day 4 of 10 days Isolation order

Time flies when one got things to do at home even if on isolation. I was catching up on my movies and serials. I also start to to my interval exercise which i did not do since I was not at home most of the time or I was out running or cycling. since now I cannot go out, I still need to exercise my body and interval training comes out as the one i need to do.

Today also see me sleeping more as took a 1 hr nap at noon. will have to stop taking the Panadol for the time being to see if it helps. I don't really have a fever to begin with.

second time this week did my interval after my early dinner. By ordering dinner before 3-5pm i get a discount for delivery (-S$3) off. not much but worth it anyway.

Daily Life: Day 3 of Isolation order due to Covid-19 infection (Oct 20)

 Day 3 of 10 days Isolation order

I am surprised to receive a call from community center. They say they know I am on home recovery program and is sending a care pack over to my home. They came at night around 8pm to put the item at my gate. 

Inside was a get well wish card, some biscuits, 1 box of masks, some hand sanitizer, 1 bottle of cough mixture, 1 Milo 3-in-1 pack, 1 box of Panadol, lozenges and vit C pill. its not much but i am not expecting much in the first place. Its a good gesture on their part and it does helps in small ways either case.

Today was more tired than usual so went to take a short nap at noon as it was raining also. one good thing is Oct 20 was raining so the weather is very cooling to sleep at night. I guess one of the reasons i could be infected was I was working late so my immune system may be working overtime. Despite i taking vitamin D regularly, its not a covid-19 drug nor help if the defense system is overworked.

Another thing i notice tis the new variant is too infectious so a double masking or N95 mask will be needed for crowded areas like bus. I was travelling more recently as i went to causeway point for dinner. I decided to buy K94 masks for use when i recover and use double masking when travelling. Cycling i can still use my sports mask since I cycle alone and mask on throughout the cycling trip. if i double mask i don't know if i can cycle effectively to begin with.

Somehow double masking require the first mask to be a surgical mask and then cover with a cloth mask. if that's the case my surgical mask quantity will start to drop since surgical mask cannot be re-used more than 1 day.

Daily Life: Day 2 of Isolation order due to Covid-19 infection (Oct 19)

 Day 2 of 10 days Isolation order

As i went to Yishun polyclinic to do my PCR tests, they also gave me a bag of medication for me to take like lozenges for sore throat, pill for runny nose, cough mixture for cough n Panadol for headache. the total cost is S$10 after gov grants. if not the total will be around S$80. 

Since I have my notebook with me, I was able to continue working from home and surfing the internet looking for new stuff. 

I was on the lookout for a replacement mop for my home and was toying with a robot vacuum cleaner. Then i am introduced to steam mop. Given my house space and cost I went to place order for a Black & Decker 6-in-1 steam mop instead. The model is BD-FSMH1300FX-XD. 

One of the problem I have is after mopping my marble titles remains a sticky feeling, not sure why but I hope the steam mop can help to resolve this issue. Another was in between the titles are see some dark spots which i will think are dirt accumulating.

 The cost of the steam mop is S$250. there are cheaper seller at S$208 but its pre-order (30days) so if i place it i can only use it in Nov. I pay more to get the item in so i can clean my house asap.

I also start to plan how my meals will be like. I will cook for lunch and buy meals for dinner. that way it will not be too different when i am working in office where lunch is taken out. Other than milk, bread and vegs I don't see i need to buy too much grocery since its 10 days and wasting food is not i want to achieve. One of the problem of staying alone is i cannot buy too much stuff as it will be wasted if not eaten.

Daily Life: Day 1 of Isolation order due to Covid-19 infection (Oct 18)

 Oct 18 2021.... the day i start on a 10 days isolation order after my PCR test result.

It all happen on Oct 16 where I am suffering from runny nose at night so decide to take a ART on Oct 17 morning. The office on Oct 11 has got confirmed cases and Oct 13 I did another ART test but it turns out to be negative. 

It turn out to be positive but as i need to on back the power to my data center after the power maintenance on Oct 16 I decided to go back office to power on the servers and ensure all IT services are working in case I am on a confirmed case come Oct 18.

I did another ART test on Oct 17 and its remains positive. I informed my HR and told them I going to do a PCR test on Oct 18. It already after 11pm when i told them the info. Took a grab to Yishun polyclinic where we guided to do a PCR and ART test after seeing the doc. Kudos to the staff who took my PCR sampling. its not easy to take the sampling all day throughout. went home in a cab, bought lunch and went home.

By noon received the sms from MOH that I am confirmed COVID-19 positive so need to be on isolation order (IO) for 10 days. the IO order came on Oct 19. started to inform my brother n mum since on Oct 16 I was at my mum's place and they are there. 

started to purchase some grocery to prepare meals during my isolation period. since prime don't offer delivery, choose from NTUC instead and order S$52 worth of food which include pork shabu shabu, fresh vegs, milk, watermelon water, frozen prawns. its not cheap but its the only option for me. Though my brothers offer to see if i need anything i did not get their help since both live at punggol so no reasons for them to travel so far to put grocery when online i can get them easily. 

Daily Life: Go bye 2020: A year of mis-travel, Covid-19 outbreak globally

 By the time this post goes up, it will be on the third day of 2021. 2020 has been a year that most of us will remember clearly as a year of global lockdowns due to the Covid-19 virus aka wuhan virus which was first detected in late Dec 2019. With the lunar new year of 2020 there was massive travelling from wuhan to the rest of the world before it was lockdown and there goes everyone's 2020.

To be fair there is no evidence to say the virus is a man-made virus but the way the Chinese government under CCP failed to take effective actions despite the knowing of SARS outbreak experience 13 years ago. Europe fell quickly and later USA and the rest of the world. Some parts of the world are getting it under control like taiwan which close all travels to China in Jan following the knowing of the virus in wuhan.WHO failed to send its team to wuhan, China to find out the truth and 1 years later the truth of how the virus spread in the first place remains clueless.

Singapore too had early success in maintaining the virus spread in the country but as India and the neighboring country like Malaysia, Indonesia got hit the massive outbreak in Singapore was in the workers dormitory where the living conditions was horrible as got up to 20 people living in the same room. Its a mistake of the authorities failing to address it earlier.  On Dec 28 2020 onwards we enter into phase 3 of the lockdown where more people can meet (from 5 to 8).

Late Nov 2020 the vaccine for the Covid-19 is out and healthcare workers are taking it though general public is not getting it yet which is better since the vaccine is more important to those on the frontlines. the rest of us will make do with continue to wear mask.

All sporting events n travelling are no go from Jan 2020 onwards with only business essential travel allowed between countries. Travel bubble was also setup between countries with low spread but this prove dicey as Hong Kong suffer a major outbreak weeks after the signing of the travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong. 

Home wise I moved into my new flat before the lockdown in April 2020 with my GF moving in with me. I ask her to do it since she is moving out in Feb and looking for a new location. I also see this as a way for her to save some money but it prove not to be the case as she spend it on other items like clothes etc. Will I change my decision had i know the outcome? I doubt it as it was clear from the beginning we will each hold accountable to what we earn, no I pay for everything kind of shit. 

Religion wise I think its more of a joining the company unofficial christian group lead by the CEO. I am also praying more, communicating more with God so it is good. I have yet to share the good news with my GF but I will let my actions do the talking instead.

Since the lockdown begin in April 2020, I have been cooking more at home so i don't eat out too often. My work also bring me into more collaborations with the rest of the team so we are using MS teams more. Looks to be more in the coming years. Also know that Panasonic is letting go of its PABX and phone divisions as the global pandemic has accelerate the growth of digital communication like MS teams, zoom, whatsapp etc. so will see what 2021 bring to the table. 

Daily Life: Race Against cancer 15k

Every year i try to make it a point to go for the singtel race against cancer run. i treat it as a form of training n tribute to cancer patients n relatives who suffered or have moved on.

I tried to cycle to the start point but i guess its not a good idea so i took the bus 135 instead to the last bus top along bedok road n walk to the start point. Saw quite a number of fellow runners n friends there.

Went directly into the start pen after its open n waited till 7.15am when we are flag off. once flag off got into some traffic issue till 1k then it clear out. Did my own running plan of 3.3k run with 700m walk. its a good strategy as it allows my legs to rest in between. my 3.3K runs are fast at around 5.30-6 min pace. its very comfortable for me so when i finish the run my legs are still relatively saying relax.

I was happy with my results n though i could have done better, i decided before the run i will take it as easy as possible.