Lockdown blues

Goodness I last wrote a blog post in May 2019, nearly a year ago!

I'm not entirely sure why I stopped but lack of time due to being busy with volunteering & being involved in several activities and groups here in Singapore was certainly partly to blame but the other reason was that I had received a few comments about my life here that made me feel uncomfortable blogging about it. I never intended to appear boastful or to make anyone feel jealous of the travel opportunities and experiences that I have been lucky enough to have, I absolutely know and frequently count my blessings as to how fortunate I have been to visit so many wonderful places.

 Having said that it is also true that life here is not entirely a bed of roses, there are many frustrations and annoyances living as an expat. I particularly hate the fact that we live so far away from our children, family and friends. We get together as often as possible but realistically this only happens 2 or 3 times a year and each time it can only be for a few days.

The simple act of getting together for Sunday lunch, receiving or giving a hug or being there to help when a loved one is unwell or just has too much on, is denied to me. 

Thankfully with the wonders of modern technology we are in touch pretty frequently and can even see each other whilst we talk on WhatsApp or Skype.  

Contact with family and friends has become even more important in recent weeks as Covid-19, coronavirus has been wreaking it's chaos, death and disruption around the globe. A huge proportion of the world's population (some newspapers are reporting over 50%)  have been ordered to "Stay Home" in an effort to contain the virus and 'flatten the curve'. 

We are all having to adjust to our new and much curtailed lives. Like many people Papa T and I have had to cancel doing almost everything we normally would do including go to the office to work, see a film at the cinema, attend fitness classes, volunteer with Riding for the Disabled, eat out, sail, use the condo pool or gym and even meet up with friends locally.  Of course any travel plans have been shelved, the family holiday in June is looking highly unlikely, heaven only knows when we can next be together with the family again.

So what to do instead? Spent hours on social media, mope and moan about what I can no longer do or constantly check the shocking & depressing news about the incredible impact that this virus is having throughout the world?  Well yes I've done all of the above but Papa T and I have also cleared out cupboards of unwanted stuff, made marmalade for the first time in years and have started doing those jobs that have been hanging around for months, sometimes even longer than that! 

 And I have made the decision to resume doing this blog. I have the time now and as I said when I first started writing it, it will hopefully be a record and reminder to me of some of my experiences and adventures whilst leading this expat life. Some of the posts may be of some of the countries I visited or experiences that I had last year but I'll also try to have some more current content and maybe a bit more about how life is at the moment, living in lockdown