Lockdown Tales

Two days ago, we found out from our friend who runs a Chinese restaurant at our hood that two of her shop neighbors had died of Covid.  This happened at the plaza that recently had a cluster -- the same place that Maria stays. The same place where the supermarket that I go to is.   We are also friends with the two deceased. One is the owner of a photo shop and the other, the owner of a Chinese medicine hall. We had been patronizing them for decades. A few shops away, something unfortunate happened to the owner too (who is also our friend), albeit not Covid. He suffered a stroke and is now hospitalized.   Although our friend's restaurant had to be closed for 2 weeks twice in a span of 1.5 months due to confirmed Covid cases from her workers and shop neighbors, thankfully our friend and her family members who help out at the restaurant were spared. They had to fork out thousands of Ringgit on Covid swab test for the entire crew. 

I couldn't sleep after I learned of the news. It was only three weeks ago that I saw one of the deceased when I went to the plaza to buy lunch and he's now gone forever.  Covid could infect anyone, even the fully vaxxed ones.

Life is very fragile. Tragedies, illnesses, death and other unexpected bumps in the road remind us of that fact. Unfortunately, a long life is not guaranteed. Some of us will get to live to be one hundred while others will live a fraction of that time.  

This reminds me once again that I should live in the present moment and take it one day at a time. With so much uncertainties over the future because of this pandemic, we can no longer plan ahead anymore.  I am trying hard to enjoy my lockdown days, though it's not easy. 

To beat the lockdown blues, I do quite a bit of online shopping.  I really enjoy waiting for my parcels to be delivered. That's the only thing that I can look forward to now.

Last weekend I ordered something that I've long wanted to try - lemang and beef rendang from a Malay seller and paid a frigging RM15 for delivery!

The lemang came encased in a bamboo.

The seller sent me a You Tube tutorial on how to remove the lemang from the bamboo. Cass tried it with a pestle by knocking the bamboo with it and then squeezed the lemang out.

The beef rendang melts in the mouth and very delish. But I had unquenchable thirst after that!  I read the ingredients and saw the word 'flavor enhancer'.  I thought I was going to reorder from this seller  but after the terrible unquenchable thirst episode throughout the day, no thanks 😁
Nonetheless, we all enjoyed the lemang and rendang.

Haru In Our Home

Cass' online classes start at 7:30 a.m. and only end at around 3 p.m. everyday.  Her days are pretty hectic, though classes are 100% remote.  Whenever there are breaks in between her classes, she will de-stress and get her dose of laugher and pet therapy from Haru.  But she can sometimes be overzealous in the way she shows her affection towards Haru - she hugs and squeezes Haru till she shrieks, she tosses Haru slightly in the air and makes Haru bleat and growl or chases Haru till her tail bristles up.  If I were a cat, I wouldn't want to be handled like that 😹 

But whenever Cass is gentle with the cat, Haru can remain still on her lap, watches Cass play a game or two or watches You Tube with her.

Haru's favorite person is her hooman dad as his voice is the first human voice that she heard. Haru's mother gave birth to her right outside hubby's office.
Every morning Haru follows her dad to the lift and I have to carry her back into the house.  
Whenever the door bell rings, she darts to the door and meows in anticipation that it will be her dad coming home.

I don't have to buy toys for Haru anymore.  She loves playing with thrash -- boxes, strings, bottle caps, broken hair ties, blister packs from my supplements, pens and plastic bags. 
The toy rat and scratch pad poll that I bought for her are untouched now. 

This is the look from Haru just before she bites us. She loves to bite us when her playful mode is switched on or when she's busy with something and we try to play with her.

In troubled times like now during the COVID-19 pandemic, pets can offer more than just a slobbery greeting or good-natured nuzzle, in Haru's case, she likes to tap on our leg with her paw to say 'hi' to us.

Haru is a great listener 😁.  I tell her things that I can't tell anyone else in the house and no unwelcome advice is given,  and sometimes, just saying things aloud can help me feel better rather than bottle up the feelings.

Thursday, 19 August 2021

Today is my papa's 78th birthday. I still remember very vividly celebrating his 60th birthday with him in Ipoh when I was heavily pregnant with Alycia.  And in a blink of an eye, Alycia will be 18 years old this December and papa is now 78!  

Where did the time go?! 18 years is a very long time - almost 2 decades but time just flew past us without us even realizing it.

I ordered a customized special birthday gift basket with balloon craft from a good friend staying in Ipoh, which she personally delivered to papa.  The gift basket has some of papa's favorite food items -- Häagen-Dazs macadamia nut ice-cream, Magnum Gold almond ice-cream, Nescafe Gold and two slices of cake from Secret Recipe.

This good friend is my brother's ex-girlfriend and till this date, she is still very close to my mom and me.

I'd like to wish my papa a very happy 78th birthday. May God bless you with many more happy years ahead and I pray that we will be able to reunite very soon. The last time I met my parents and brothers was in February last year during Chinese New Year.   It's almost two years we have not met in person, except for video calls 😔

Lockdown Tales

The prolonged lockdown has turned Sherilyn into an accidental baker and chef and now - hair stylist.  Alycia has been complaining that it’s been super hot lately and her hair is bothering her.   As hair salons are still closed in the Klang Valley and our area is a red zone, Sherilyn offered to cut Alycia's hair.   While Alycia did not have confidence in Sherilyn initially, I convinced Alycia that I was very confident that her sister will do a great job as I was really satisfied with Sherilyn when she cut my hair last year during MCO 1.0.

Alycia agreed. She just wanted her shoulder length hair snipped off and didn't have the patience to wait for hair salons to be reopened.  Our country recorded a record-breaking high of 22,242 Covid cases today - 18 August 2021. It's getting from bad to worse.

It’s not easy to cut Alycia’s thick hair with the limited apparatus that we have, which is a pair of decades-old scissors meant for cutting baby hair and a hair clip.  Instead of the usual 15-20 minutes job done by a professional hair stylist, Sherilyn spent 1.5 hours standing inside the shower stall meticulously and patiently snipping her persnickety older sister’s thick hair with lots of huffing and puffing coming from Alycia, followed by hysterical laughter and shrieks inside the bathroom.  

I am beyond impressed with the outcome – Alycia has a 99% straight and perfect bob hair cut!! I gave Sherilyn a RM5 tip 🤭.

Impressed with Alycia's haircut, the mil and the girls’ grand aunt living a few units below ours  (both are equally finicky on their hair stylists) now wants Sherilyn’s service too! 

Sorry I have no photos to share. I actually stole the pix of them in the shower stall and when they realized it, locked me out of the room.  When they found out that I posted the blurred out images of them on social media, they protested vehemently and screamed blue murder, demanding that I removed the post instantly and even threatened to sue their mother, not realizing that it is their mother who is also their banker.  🤬

See la. Really 'char siu' daughters I have.  I also bemoan to them all the time that I have 3 ungrateful 'char siu' girls. I pray that they will grow up to be filial and loving daughters and not burnt 'char siu' that I have to discard.

That's the reason why at this age, it's best to have a pet at home. I can channel my love to Haru and she even knows how to reciprocate my love.  Now I see why most of my friends who are my age have several dogs and cats at home. Because their 'char siu' just don't know how to reciprocate love 😔

OK, nuff of ranting.  I'm stepping off the soapbox.

 

Missing Haru's baby face so much!

Our lockdown kitten. We fostered her during the lockdown early this year and one of the best things that we've done.

Friday, 13 August 2021

I got a shock this morning when I opened the washing machine door after the cycle ended. A wad of cash rolled out of the washer door. 

He forgot to remove stuff from his pocket again! 😣

I quickly air dried the notes and before he left the house, I passed the cash to him. To my surprise he said I could keep them.   🤑

 

My online shopping haul received today:

My wet and dry floor wipes and lint roller replacement tapes from Daiso, bought from Lazada.  As I couldn't get any free shipping from Shopee, I hopped over to Lazada and managed to get free shipping! Without Maria coming into our home to help me, most probably until this year end, I will have to rely on all these cleaning accessories to get all the daily cleaning done everyday.

Organic beet root powder from Lazada with a RM2 shipping fee.  Beets are rich in iron (something which I need for my anemia), calcium, magnesium and potassium.  Beets have impressive health benefits such as lowering blood sugar, lowering blood pressure, may prevent certain cancers and can boost brain health.

Alycia has overcome her fear of cats. She now loves playing with Haru!

Online Shopping Amid The Lockdown

I have never done so much online shopping in my entire life than in the last two months, no thanks to the protracted pandemic and never-ending lockdown in our country.  When the supermarket in our hood was recently closed for two weeks due to a cluster detected, I had to switch to online mode for the purchase of most of my essentials. Online shopping is convenient but can be a tad time consuming as I sometimes need to wait for the prices of certain items (non urgent ones) to be reduced or wait for free shipping and cashback vouchers before I pay for them.  Thus, I spend much of my time on Shopee and Lazada these days.  I even stay up to midnight several times in a month whenever Shopee has a midnight sale, just to save some $$. Online shopping can be tiring but it's therapeutic, just like mall shopping.  In such depressing times, shopping online is my little guilt pleasure. It's my only source of entertainment now since we can't venture out.  I can't even exercise at our condo grounds for the next two weeks because of a few Covid positive cases detected among the workers and guards at our condo.

My online shopping haul in the last couple of weeks...

An Ikea trolley storage rack for Cass to put her books.  As it now looks quite certain that online learning will be in for the long haul, I have to get extra storage for her to put her school books. 

Cass spent almost an hour assembling the trolley.

We love this 3-tier trolley storage rack - it even came with a screwdriver to help us with the assembly. This trolley is bought from Shopee, at a discounted price of only RM43.25 with a 423 Shopee Coins in cashback (equivalent to RM4.23).

Toilet papers. We're heavy users of toilet papers and I need to restock them every week 🤭

Bamboo tissue papers at only 60 cents a packet from Lazada.   The quality is superb - thick, large and even perforated.

I finally found Ora2 toothbrushes at Shopee. Ora2 toothbrushes are by far the best I've used. They are made in Japan and cost only RM4.60 each, which is way cheaper than at supermarkets.

Tena extra large wet wipes - I got them at a steal from Shopee (under Vinda Official Store).   These are sold at RM6 a pack at the pharmacy and I got them at RM5.40 a pack with discounted shipping and Shopee Coins.  I use these wipes to dry clean Haru and for general cleaning around the house.

Unscented, paraben-free and alcohol-free baby wet wipes at only RM20.24 for 10 LARGE PACKS (80 pcs per pack) with FREE SHIPPING from Lazada!!  Only RM2 a pack hey! What a steal! I use these to clean Haru's ears and face and for everything else. 

   

A heavy duty stainless steel towel rack at only RM59 with free shipping from Shopee! 

KN94 Korean disposable face masks from Lazada. A pack of 50 pieces only costs RM14.90 with a RM10 voucher from Lazada!  Shipping fee was only RM4.  These were shipped from China and took 10 days to reach me.  

Cat food, catnips biscuits and cat litter from two different sellers from Shopee and Lazada.

Nuts, matcha biscuits, vegetable crisps and pop corns from Signature Market. We love the nuts and snacks from Signature Market. They're always fresh and prices are very reasonable.  I buy them from Shopee or Lazada, depending on which platform offers me free shipping and discount vouchers.

With so much shopping done, being stuck at home doesn't look that bad eh?  

No, it sucks.  Being stuck at home for 1.5 years with our household earnings impacted badly is not fun.  But life has to go one and we try to make the best out of the situation.  Worrying won't help a bit, it may even cause more damage to our health if too much time was spent worrying about the unknown.  We can only take one day at a time.  And pray that we and our loved ones will not be infected by this invisible enemy that is already at our door step. 

Updates On Covid Situation At Our Place

Besides Maria who was tested positive last Sunday, her supervisor who's very close to her was also tested positive the next day 😓.  I have been emailing our condo Management office with regard to the Covid situation at our condo and urged the manager to get all the workers and staff tested.  I think other concerned residents have done the same.  Yesterday the KKM (Health Ministry) staff came to our condo to perform RT-PCR test on all the office staffers, general workers and guards at our condo.  The results should be out by now and I'm really anxious to know the outcome!

The Management office finally engaged a sanitizing company to do a deep disinfection exercise with fogging at our lobby areas as well as every floor on every block today. The sanitization workers were draped in full PPE suits.  Residents have been advised not to loiter or exercise at the lobby areas and public areas for three days.  

With the worrying Covid situation at our neighborhood, I am taking extra precautionary measures. I've not gone out to the nearby supermarkets for a few days and have been doing all my shopping online.

Even toilet papers, tooth brush and tooth paste are ordered online, along with many other toiletries, cat food, cat litter, snacks and supplements. When my parcels arrive, I disinfect all of them with PECA disinfectant water. I wear disposable gloves and bring a bottle of PECA disinfectant to spray the lift, buttons, door knobs and the air at the lobby.  The Delta variant is high infectious and is scorching the world at a terrifying speed and rate. 

Today my younger brother came to collect durians from us. Instead of meeting him at the lobby, I decided to play it safe. I just left the durians on a table at the lobby for him to collect.  I've just gotten  my 2nd dose of AZ vaccine yesterday and my brother does the rounds at hospitals throughout the country regularly. So I'm not taking any chances.