I haven’t had any updates in a month. I’ve had my hands tied with getting good work done + a hoard of other things as we head into the twilight of the year. I’ll do a sweep.

Semi-lockdown. The local community cases in Singapore have reached record highs. Gone are the days we would hear about five, fifteen, or twenty-five cases. The local community cases are now in the thousands. Yup! Thousands. But it comes with the feeling of opening up an umbrella as you step into monsoon weather. 83% of the residents in this country are fully vaccinated. The language and tone has shifted to endemic living. “It’s going to be like this, get used to it.”

Upcoming cruise to nowhere. I never imagined I’d book myself on one of these. But after twenty months of living safely within this island city-state, it’s time to see the open oceans. PJ and I are joining two of our flatmates on a Royal Caribbean cruise which departs Singapore, goes out to sea, and comes back to Singapore after three days. Onboard activities include sushi making, world capitals quiz games, and bumper cars. I’m looking forward to holding a Prosecco with a view of blue skies, blue ocean.

Squid Game. I never imagined I’d watch this series after I stepped back from Alice in Borderland on its third episode. I’m finding myself hooked. I want the memes to make sense to me. I want to understand how another South Korean title can take the world by storm. The series is brilliant.

Hometown Cha-cha-cha. This is absolutely necessary to wash off Squid Game each night. It’s a past-time of our generation to enjoy these feel-good Korean dramas. How can they make a seaside town look so dreamy? IRL, a town like Gongjin must be scorching hot. Here, the townspeople are lovable. You have Shin Min-a and Kim Seon-o who have great onscreen chemistry. This is fun to watch.

Japanese classes. I’m wrapping up the first term of my basics course with Tomo Japanese Language School. I’m going to continue to the next term. I’m enjoying the classes because you pro-actively have to shadow sensei and your classmates. I’m pairing his with Duolingo.

Election fever. Social media is toxic these days. I’ve unfollowed news organisations and I’ve switched off notifications to a majority of apps. I naturally read the news on dedicated news apps. I just don’t need the news to be fed to me every waking moment.

Thoughts about the future. As we move into endemic life in Singapore, I’m comfortable to start dreaming again. What’s a 36 year-old have to say about pursuing new goals, new ventures? I’m all-out now to develop new skills. I’m ready to take on opportunities to accelerate my growth as a dedicated media professional. If there is any doubt, we can recognise it, tag it as “useless”, and discard it.