Non-essential businesses will close from Tuesday. The new measures will be in effect over a month. People are advised to stay home and avoid meeting with friends. People are to stick to immediate family members.

Except for us non-Singaporeans, we’ll be staying home. But not with family. We live with flatmates, partners. I get a little anxious if the government will monitor S or E-pass holders. Or if Aunt Lydia will be waiting at the void deck. There are many things I appreciate and admire about Singapore’s response to this crisis. But I’ve seen too many episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale. The scenes in the Gilead grocery store… felt that earlier. Like CCTVs, social distance ambassadors in plainclothes. Lol.

Absolutely horrible time to do the groceries earlier. We went to the Fairprice at Bukit Ho Swee which is 24/7. We went around 7:00pm. The vegetables are sold out. The meat sections were almost empty. The mood inside the store was sombre.

Here’s the thing. You enter the grocery store with a list of ingredients you need to complete a meal plan. However, with empty shelves… you end up scrambling discreetly (aka looking calm but screaming inside) to grab whatever is left and then while you’re queuing to pay… you’re wondering “okay, what I am going to do with this minced pork without onions or vegetables”.

We ended up cooking pork adobo.