Saturday, June 13, 2020

Spring 2020 - The Stormy Spring

Spring 2020 came and left with majority of the world hunkered down at home, what a different world we've been living in over the last 3 months! For an introvert + homebody like me, I have been enjoying this 'new normal'. =) 

As compared to last Spring, work life has been soooo much better this year. Due to the nature of my role, my workload is much lower and stress-free at this time of the year. I'm certainly glad I pivoted into this new role, especially looking at all the additional work my peers are having to deal with due to COVID-19 impact on audits. For that, I'm thankful.

As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, I'm sure glad I did the following things before the world shut down:
  • June 2019 - Received my green card and not having to deal with visa expiration
  • May & Sept 2019 - Deciding to travel back to Malaysia twice last year
  • Dec 2019 - Deciding to travel to Hawaii with my parents despite the challenges
  • Jan/Feb 2020 - Traveled as much as I possibly could this year by volunteering to travel to Tampa for 2 months before all work travel was halted
  • 6 Jan 2020 - Completed my annual physical health exam 
  • 5 Mar 2020 - Had my routine dental visit
You'd think staying at home means boring, but I was still able to take enough pictures to max out my storage space on my phone. Let's see how our 'lockdown' life has been..

Spring 2020 came and left silently

My dramatic niece depicting how everyone is feeling about being stuck at home.

We're both fortunate that our jobs have not been impacted. I've enjoyed spending almost all my time at home in this room, apart from eating and sleeping. 

Mar 6 (Fri): Stocked up on 'essentials' one week ahead, when everything was still in stock

March 13 (Fri): Doomsday scene in our local Walmart. I've been shopping early in the morning to avoid people.

Contrary to most people's experience, our lifestyle really hasn't changed much at all with this whole stay-at-home situation. With most restaurants being closed, a lot of people started to cook more. As for us, the weekly routine of meal-prepping continues as usual.

March 22 & 29 (Sun): Tomyum noodle soup, pasta with pork, stir-fry veggies, pasta and sausage, braised pork, fried rice with sausage.

April 5 & 12 (Sun): Potato salad, baked chicken with pasta, stir-fry veggies, chicken rice, chow mien, bbq potato and sausage, rice with veggie and gravy.

April 19 & 26 (Sun): Braised pork rice, pasta and meatball, stir-fry veggies, egg sandwich, potato salad, pasta and sausage, deviled eggs, rice with veggie and gravy.

May 3 & 10 (Sun): Pan-fried potato and baked chicken, chicken rice, tuna pasta, stir-fry veggies, potato with sausage and beans, egg sandwich, seafood tomyum noodle soup, deviled eggs.

May 17 & 24 (Sun): Baked chicken, chicken rice, pasta and meatballs, stir-fry veggies, deviled eggs, braised chicken and rice, potato salad, potato and sausage.

May 31 & June 7 (Sun): Potato with sausage and beans, kimbap (rice rolls), pasta with meatballs, stir-fry veggies, baked chicken, chicken rice, onion egg, egg sandwich.

Kudos to McD for this great initiative. Hubby works in healthcare so he was able to get a few free meals of his favorite fast food. =)


With all things going on out there, it’s even more important now to focus on staying healthy, physically and mentally. P.S. Self-care at home doesn't require gym membership.

It has been years since I watched any shows, but I've enjoyed binge-watching these K-dramas lately.

Apart from 'consuming' contents, I've also been pretty productive 'creating' contents on my website. Published 4 blog posts, completed the "SIMPLI-FI" series on the website, and finished editing the video interview I did with grandma and grandaunt 2 years ago. 

Used my creative skills to make this DIY fitted game console covers for hubby's games. =D

Uniqlo gets me all the time with their free shipping...whoops!

May 10 (Sun): Celebrated Mother's Day and ordered takeout for the first time in months.

May 14 (Thurs): Woke up at 6am for niece's 2nd birthday celebration with the family.


I fully acknowledge the privilege to say that the biggest impact this pandemic had on us was the cancellation of our travel plans. We've cancelled/postponed 2 trips so far. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to travel again later this year.


Thanks Marriott for this email...lol!!

Twincredibles at 15 - 16 months.They're growing up fast!