Phase 2 HA

We're in Phase 2 Heightened Alert since 14 May? And I've been 100% wfh a week earlier than that. No dining out. Not encouraged to head out. No sch. No football.

When the highlight of the day for me is the 2-3 hours couch potato time every night after the kids sleep, it really goes to show how sian I am of this CB lite... Wish this covid shit will go away really soon.

If you love wasabi, you'll enjoy...

... having your nose swabbed for the covid-19 test!

That was how I felt when I had my virgin test done on 14 May. I didn't come into close contact with C+ cases but due to the recent surge in community cases from the airport cluster, MOH announced that everyone who were at T3 from whichever date can go for free swab tests. And my co policy made it mandatory. So I gave my "first time" an auntie nurse at Tampines St 11 clinic.

Sharing some tips to make the swab more comfortable: 

- Breathe normally. In fact, don't clench your nose because if you do, your nostrils are smaller and that grips onto the cotton bud thingy tighter, causing more discomfort;

- Close eyes, relax. While my first nostril was being rubbed, my eyes started tearing. Exactly how it feels when you eat sushi with a huge dollop of wasabi and the 呛 choking sensation surges up your olfactory receivers. 

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So anyway my swab test result came back 1 day later on a Saturday (how efficient is Singapore?). One could view your result via HealthHub app (how connected is Singapore?). My result was negative. Phew.

Gum bump

First noticed this appearing just above Yx's tooth 2 days ago. Coincidentally that tooth is the same one she fell and hit a few years ago. The gum bump, as I learnt on Google, didn't cause pain or discomfort but I bought her to the dentist nonetheless.

Dentist said it could be bacterial infection, or because of the adult tooth that is coming out. However, if it was due to the former the bump would be redder; if it was the latter the bump would be just below the tooth. So really can't pinpoint what is was. Doc recommended to extract the tooth which was already wobbly and adult tooth was coming out anyway. But in the end we said we'll monitor the situation, and come back immediately if the bump becomes red, grows in size or causes pain.

Brave yx sat through the check unfazed. She even enjoyed the cleansing and polishing and yearned to come back again soon ... 

1 step forward, 3 steps backward

With the rise in community cases and 9 active clusters... And we're back to Phase 2.

=(

No more football for awhile again. 

SIGH!!!!

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Update: Phase 2 Heightened Alert came into effect 16 May 2021. Reduced from 5 pax to 2 pax, no dining in. WTF LAH.

HOW CAN ACAPPELLA BE THIS AWESOME??!

Recently, this Korean acappella group's rendition of iPhone/Windows/Samsung phone ring and alert tones went viral on social media:

Little did thousands of people (myself included) know that this group, by the name of Maytree, is extremely successful and awesome!

I browsed their Youtube channel and boy, was I blown away by their cover of pop songs! Sharing a few of my favs below for your listening pleasure:

And this bassist is DA ROCK!

Their best testimonial has to be the countless 'likes' and comments on their channels. Seriously underrated and under-subscribed! Maytree is unbelievably good! I discovered their channel just a few days ago and have spent a few hours watching their vids lol. Their faces are rather likeable (and amicable) and their live showmanship is superb as well! 😍 I honestly wish for them to make it bigger on the music stage!

One fan even described Pentatonix as the "Western Maytree". 😝

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P/S: I was today years old when I realised one could insert emoticons on blogger... XD

Looking forward to...

Staycay at Sentosa!

I've always not been a fan for local staycations, for I find that it's not a wise use of money. Firstly my own home and King sized bed are extremely comfortable and cosy; secondly, technically you're only away from home for less than 24 hours - before you even know it it's time to check-out and return home to start on those goddamn chores e.g. laundry, floor that you temporarily put back on? So yup, I'd rather spend that $200-$300 elsewhere la.

However, given the recent circumstances:

1. Not able to travel (and how else to utilise my leaves?);

2. Gahmen gives $100 tourist voucher;

3. RWS has a 2nd night at 50% offer; and

4. We want to check out SEA Aquarium for the kids anyway,

We decided to contribute some money to the local economy lor. Haha. Hoping for good weather and all to be well during the 3d2n stay!

Resilience can be trained

Came across this article:

https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-secret-formula-for-resilience

Key takeaways:

If you are lucky enough to never experience any sort of adversity, we won’t know how resilient you are. It’s only when you’re faced with obstacles, stress, and other environmental threats that resilience, or the lack of it, emerges: Do you succumb or do you surmount?

...change their explanatory styles from internal to external (“Bad events aren’t my fault”), from global to specific (“This is one narrow thing rather than a massive indication that something is wrong with my life”), and from permanent to impermanent (“I can change the situation, rather than assuming it’s fixed”) made them more psychologically successful and less prone to depression. The same goes for locus of control: not only is a more internal locus tied to perceiving less stress and performing better but changing your locus from external to internal leads to positive changes in both psychological well-being and objective work performance. The cognitive skills that underpin resilience, then, seem like they can indeed be learned over time, creating resilience where there was none.