Author: CheckW

I can start to smell freedom soon, to be released from my hotel room cell in Shangri-La after 14 nights of compulsory quarantine since returning from my UK trip. The COVID19 test results I did on Tues (first trip out of the room on Day 11 for 30 mins in the same building) came back negative on Thurs and so I should be able to check out tomorrow after noon time.

The anticipation and apprehension of returning back to S’pore after spending a month in Oxford was high for me because of this quarantine requirement. You hear about all the negative rumours as so few people have done it before. It did not helped that I visited the famous Oxford Prison during my last week there. The guide had recounted the horrible prison conditions there for hundreds of years LOL. And there I was, heading for a 14 nights of staying in my room/cell.

This was the first time in my life where I will be trapped in a room for so long. The nationwide virus lockdown/circuit breaker period earlier in the year had probably also help me prepare for this. We were told then to stay home for many weeks and to minimize movement when the first wave was surging.

The first night of quarantine was the worse for me as I was still having the effects of jetlag and woke up in the middle of the night feeling disorientated and highly claustrophobic. I broke into cold sweat and had to try to calm myself, wanting to just do some exercise to take my mind off the fact that I will be trapped in the room for days.

The following days became better as I got used to it and started to plan a daily schedule of activities to get into a regular routine asap. I decided to also do 400 stomach crunches before every meal. The hotel provided an activities schedule with QR codes to relevant videos. I followed the exercises schedule religiously, going into Zumba and Salsa classes, HIIT workout, stretch and Yoga flow sessions as a late afternoon activity every day. I adopted a series of calisthenics exercise routine I found on the internet to do it every morning before breakfast.

Like the reason for writing on this blog, I decided to share my quarantine experience on my social media accounts (via Facebook and Instagram) too. I believe that to talk about it will reduce the fear for me. It was also to inform a few friends who were going to do this compulsory quarantine soon when they return to S’pore. Most readers provided words of encouragement and some followed up with questions about the experience. The downside? A few idiots commented that they wished they were in my place and one even sent me photos of himself enjoying his time outside on the beach a few days in a row to make me envious. Assholes!

The daily routine is coming to an end soon. Tonight will be my 14th and last night in this room I have been calling home for 2 weeks. Checking out by noontime tomorrow, I would have been away from home for almost 6 weeks. Looking forward to meeting my wife and younger son again.

This has been a spa detox staycation for me. My body system should be better now with clean living, a simple diet with less over eating and regular exercises throughout each day. Freedom smells so sweet and close – I have gotten a better appreciation of it without taking freedom for granted.

The COVID19 situation around the world is getting worse by the day as summer moves into winter and the 2nd wave hits. The impending shit show ahead seems so apparent that Boris had threatened to cancel Christmas if it is not brought under control by then. Countries are returning to lockdowns now in order to ensure that the rising 2nd wave is flattened.

We are lucky as a small country that the virus is relatively under control now with a proactive government. Visiting the UK with my first hand experience on the ground experience plus watching Myanmar deteriorate rapidly via my regular consultancy calls was a wake up call for me. Many governments with a much bigger population, porous borders and placing a higher value over individual rights have found it hard to contain the invisible enemy.

Asia in general has done much better than the rest of the world. Asian values generally prioritize the community over individual rights. What is good for the village as a whole is good for every person in it. Wearing masks and obeying the draconian new rules of the authorities is a given, we do not question them.

There is no need to politicize the issues like what America is doing. Wearing a mask is not about breaching your 1st amendment right but it is to protect your fellow human beings. Testing and contact tracing is a bare minimum to arrest the spread of the virus. Rushing to reopen is a recipe for disaster. The virus does not discriminate.

The 2 presidential candidates into their final 5 days of campaigning cannot be more different. Their messages are the opposite of one another. Surely one side is lying through his teeth? The virus will be over soon when cases are hitting record highs? Promising over the last few years that a new and better healthcare plan will always be coming in the next few weeks and not delivering? Saying that you have won the war against the virus with bold moves when cases hit historical highs?

This will be a good human case study in the future as Trump supporters remain blind to the actual situation. The echo chamber of social media news keep them them sheltered in an alternate reality world where all news that disagree with their views are labeled fake news. Will they ever get out of this when the elections are over next week and their candidate loses?

My view is very simple. For the sake of the world, I hope Biden wins. If not, then the Americans deserve the orange one and we are all in for a crazy ride ahead.

Just back from the UK after a month in Oxford, I stepped off the plane on Sat morning, 17 Oct with trepidation on what lies ahead for me.

There were only about 50 passengers on the SQ flight from Heathrow and I could even lay down on the empty seats for a nice 4 hours of sleep as we only had 4 persons in my section. About 10 of us disembarked in S’pore while the rest were transiting to connecting flights. In an almost eerily empty Changi, the immigration process was quick and efficient. After taking my luggage, we were ushered to the final bay area to await our fate.

The first thing I asked was “Which hotel are we going to?” The kind lady replied that it was the Shangri-La. We were put in batches as we land, to be transported to the various quarantine hotels. The bus driver said that the best option was JW Marriot. But we do not have any choice on where were can do our compulsory 14 days quarantine due to the COVID19 measures put in place for overseas returnees. It was explained to me that today will be Day 1 and I should be able to check out on Day 15 at 12 noon, which will be 31 Oct. We have to pay $2,000 for this “privilege” that included room and 3 meals a day.

After a quiet bus right (about 12 of us in the whole bus), we reached our destination at Orange Grove Road, right next to Tanglin. Well, it wasn’t the other Shangri-La in Sentosa (LOL) but I guess I should not complain. With the virus still raging on in the world, tourism has completely died in all countries. The only business hotels can get now are staycations and this. I believe that all the top hotels had bided for this quarantine business as a means of survival and to get much-needed cash flow because they will have a higher chance of winning the business. There was no option to upgrade the room at my own cost as I wanted a balcony. I always wanted to stay at the Shang and now I have the opportunity to fully enjoy my room for 2 weeks LMAO…

I had a lot of apprehensions as I got ready to enter the hotel room which I was supposed to spend the next 14 nights. In my whole life, I have never been “imprisoned” in a room for 2 weeks straight. This will be a first for me. The Circuit Breaker/Lockdown period earlier this year had probably prepared me for this. It was important that I quickly settle into a routine schedule filled with exercises, reading and doing work. I decided that I would do 400 stomach crunches before each meal to “earn” it. Hopefully, I will get a 6-pack soon hahaha…

Jetlag settled in quickly and the first day passed quickly as I slept a lot. The first night was the worst as I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night feeling totally disoriented and getting very claustrophobic as I realised where I was. I posted my quarantine situation on social media as a way to confront the challenge ahead and also to update friends current overseas of the situation. We were all fearful of this return trip requirements. There was not much information prior to this as it was a very small group of people that had similar experiences.

Because overseas returnees may be contaminated with the virus, each of us was not allowed contact with the outside world. We had a hotel card key that was only good for a one time use only. Once we get into the room, we cannot get out. But we could bring things into the room. So the use of online food delivery services was allowed. I quickly ordered 2 bottles of wine on Sunday morning. My lovely wife also ordered a care pack for me from Redmart. Both were delivered on Mon. Her birthday was on Sun and we had a Zoom call with my older son in Oxford to celebrate it that night.

By now, the COVID19 cases in S’pore has become manageable and the country was looking to reopen up more as it moves to Phase 3 soon. There were days of zero cases and new cases nowadays are mostly imported ones. Hence the compulsory 14 days quarantine was a good way to identify asymptomatic cases and prevent it from spreading to the community. Travel channels and green lanes are being explored in order to open up the skies again for travel. With more than 100+ vaccines being rushed to production and implementation, I believe that we will be having something like Tamiflu for H1N1 by early next year.

Looking back at the past 8 months since the virus started its grip on the world in Mar, we have learnt a lot more about it now. While cases are still high due to more testing, the coming cold winter season and idiots like Trump/Boris, the percentage of death is lower than the 1st half of the year. The doctors understand it better now and applying new medicines that have a high probability of reducing the mortality rate. In the chaos, the world is getting a better sense of the problem and sharing best practises around the globe. It is just that some countries are still not thinking logically about how to address the problem until it is too late. It only takes a stupid one to re-infect the rest of the world again. Only a good vaccine can have any hope of stopping it in its tracks eventually.

That brings me back to the US elections. The 2nd and final presidential debate happened yesterday. The contrast between the 2 candidates cannot be more distinct. It’s like between yin and yang. It is more presidential now, thanks to the mute button (like a kindergarten class, unbelievable…). Each had a chance to talk about various topics which the US citizens are concerned about.

Trump was on his best behaviour to date and tried not to appear boorish but he still veered off-topic at times and trying to get Biden to stutter, which happened a few times. Trump says he is not racist but I think he only worships money as his ultimate goal. He does not care about anything else as long as he achieves that goal, be it being racist or having zero empathy for anyone but himself.

It was very telling at the end that the last question was to pretend to give a speech at the inauguration if you win. Trump went totally off-script to accuse his enemies instead – super presidential my dear orange moron….. Biden had a more appropriate speech about unity and bringing the whole country together, more hope and less fear. What a contrast!!!

Total is Day 8 for me. Half way there now. I will be having my swap test on Day 11 soon and that will be my first time out of the room for a short while. Daily temperature taking looks alright. I can smell freedom soon 🙂

It was amazing that I had already spent almost a month in Oxford with my son. So much planning and apprehension about the trip during these COVID19 times is coming to an end.

We landed in the UK with S’pore just being exempted from quarantine 2 hours before, got into Keble College to settle him down, then to my first apartment in London Road, Headington. Then I rented a car to drive around and doing father-son bonding day trips and meals together. As he started his week zero term, I moved to my 2nd apartment in the city itself. Then term proper (Week 1) started for him last week as he was caught up with meeting his peers and apply for internships.

It was a relatively quiet last week for me in Oxford as I ran out of things to do. I settled into a routine of forcing myself to take an early morning walk around the parks even though the sun only rising after 7.30 and that the temperature has dropped to 6 degrees Celsius most mornings. Then as the sun warms up in the afternoon, I will go for a long run which turned out very lovely as I was discovering the many canal routes around Oxford and seeing rowers in their long boats practising.

I was aiming for as much outdoor time as possible as I knew I would have to be confined in my room when I returned to S’pore to start my 14 days quarantine, which was inevitable.

Had a final Sunday roast with Justin at the Red Lion before having a video call with the family. Visited the remaining Oxford attractions that are opened, like the Oxford Castle which was used as a prison for hundreds of years till 1996 and the Oxford Botanic Gardens.

I also managed to have my first introductory calls with the 2 new mentees assigned to me this year for the NUSS Mentorship program. This will be the 3rd year I will be participating. Both candidates are very different, one overly confident while the other was the opposite. It will be an interesting year ahead as I hope to value add to them by sharing my past work experience and help them prepare for their future career paths.

The dreaded 2nd part of my 6 weeks journey was about to start. I had to make preparations for limited freedom for the next 2 weeks spent in a room doing the compulsory quarantine session in a hotel I would be assigned to. I had to make the best of my opportunity to be outdoors in Oxford and jogged as much as my body can take. I did an average of at least 8 km per day, running to new areas for the first time, exploring the suburbs of Oxford like Iffley and Rose Hill.

Finally, on Friday morning, I checked out of the apartment at 630 am to catch the bus to Heathrow. I managed to buy a decent bottle of Scottish Whisky at the airport. It will be for me to drink slowly over the next 2 weeks in my room. It was an uneventful 13 hours flight which only had just 50+ passengers where only 10 disembarked in S’pore while the rest had connecting flights and were only transiting through.

The immigration process and the collection of luggage were efficient and soon we were ushered into the buses for our trip to the assigned hotel for quarantine. I immediately asked them for the name and was pleasantly surprised that it was Shangri-La. The apprehension was also building as all of us on the bus didn’t know what to expect as it was the first time for all of us in these COVID19 times.

There was some paperwork we had to do once we reached the hotel as we were individually briefed on what to expect during our 2 weeks stay here. We had to pay $2k for the privilege of being confined here with a room and 3 meals provided a day. Today is Day 2 and I will only be able to check out on Day 15 after noontime. The card key only allowed for a one time access into the room to prevent us from leaving it for the next 14 days. We had to go a COVID19 swap test on Day 11, which is the only time we will be allowed outside the room.

The main saving grace was that we were not totally locked out of the world like a prison cell. We still had amenities like hotel room service with a 30% discount and can order food and things from outside services to be delivered to us. Incoming is OK but outgoing is not as a bubble was created to contain all of us in case someone contracted COVID19 while overseas. I had a few occasional claustrophobia anxieties setting in as I try to get used to working within a confined space for a period of time.

Based on my Circuit Breaker Lockdown experience, I quickly try to set down a schedule of things to do to keep my mind occupied. I had also prepared reading materials like eBooks borrowed from NLB and magazines to read. The TV and being connected to Youtube and the web via my laptop, iPad and phone should help pass the time.

On the first morning of Day 2, I decided to order room service to get a Nasi Lemak for breakfast. To exercise, I commit to doing 400 crunches before every meal. I also ordered 2 bottles of wine online 🙂

Meanwhile, it is 18 days to the US elections and Trump is still going into self-destruction mode. More GOP members are starting to distance themselves from him as a self-preservation instinct. Can’t see what else he can do besides starting a war now. The final presidential debate will happen the end of this week. Time flies as we move into the final stretch of a not so pleasant 2020.

We have been in the UK for 3 weeks now. It seems like most western countries do not have a good handle on COVID19 yet. The 2nd wave had started and we are heading into winter soon. Boris wants to cancel Christmas now.

The weak was lovely initially, then the rains started and the temperature plunged the whole of this week to a low of 4 degrees Celsius and hovering no higher than 13 most of the days. I managed to do my daily runs in the old apartment in Headington, clocking up to 8km before the wet weather put a stop to it.

I moved into a new apartment in the heart of Oxford city last Sat to be nearer to my son for the remaining 2 weeks before I head back home to begin my 2 weeks quarantine in S’pore this following Sat, a week from today. The new apartment was much better than I expected, having been newly renovated. It was located in the heart of the city within a 300+ years old building that used to be a coach stop in the old days. It is just beside the famous Covered Markets of Oxford where various shops have been selling their wares for many years too.

As my son’s school term started on Monday (Week Zero), he was occupied with the various orientation programs as most students moved into the college over the weekend. While a lot of activities are confine to online now, the rule of 6 did allow them to meet up and go for the traditional pubs for evening socialization. I did not want to impose on him, hence I was off to do things on my own to discover every inch of the city over the next few days.

Took it easy for the weekend and visited some new pubs to sample the lager and ale. Good to be a lone tourist trying to take my time doing anything I fancy on the whim of the moment. Went to watch the movie “Tenet” on Monday as the weekday price was lower. Then I reacquainted myself with the city again by booking a walking tour as the last one was 3 years ago when the whole family came here to check out Oxford before my son had to start his NS.

The guide on the walking tour was a friendly Canadian and he had just completed his PhD in ancient history in Oxford! He was on a 5 years scholarship but managed to finish it in 4. He was previously from the army medical sector who decided to pursue his interest on studying the similarities of various civilizations. Oxford with the huge Bodleian library collection of old books provided him the resources to study ancient Greek and Latin history. He was very entertaining to our group, although there were only 4 of us (an Italian lady and a mother-daughter couple from Australia).

Because of Covid19, some places were not opened and hence the itinerary has to be adjusted. He introduced us to the oldest pub in Oxford, The Bear which was started in 1242 and had a tradition of cutting of ties if they were worn in the pub. He also mentioned about the origins of Alice in Wonderland and how the gardens in Christchurch Meadow inspired the author. I also learned more about the special friendship CS Lewis had with JRR Tolkien as they went on to write great books which still are being admired today.

I settled into a schedule of sorts, starting with a morning run or walk regardless of the temperature, followed by a shower before going for museum visits. The Ashmolean had a “Young Rembrandt” exhibition while it also had a rich record of various civilizations. The museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers museum were 2 amazing large halls packed with details to explore and read. Even the basement of the Blackwell bookshop was so large that I had to go twice to fully appreciate the books on display there.

It is only less than 25 days to the US elections but Trump never stopped surprising everyone. The month of Oct is turning out to be one of crazy shit happening every other day. He goes more unhinged and desperate as Biden widens his polls gap over him. I cannot believe how many own goals he had personally shot at himself in just the last one week. Shooting himself in the foot or putting his foot in his mouth is becoming too frequent.

First was the presidential debate that wasn’t presidential at all, then he got the virus. The emerging super spreader event where 32 White House related members also contracted it to date. Then he did some crazy videos and Fox calls while high on experimental drugs like some deranged uncle. He dropped the bomb again by saying he will postpone the relief negotiations until after the elections, then did a 180 degrees turnaround yesterday by announcing that the relief discussions should be restarted and suggesting a much higher amount than that proposed by the Democrats. Pelosi even kick started a 25th Amendment commission process to determine what they have to do if a president is suddenly unfit for office…

Even the older voters are abandoning him, either through mistrust of how he handled Covid19 or suffering from the lies he told them. Talk about killing your voters, literally. The most vulnerable group of older voters who believe in his lies are also contracting the virus by refusing to wear masks and thinking that Covid19 is a hoax.

His world is starting to unravel at a faster rate now. All his life he had been able to get out of the hole he dug via various means but this one looks too deep to get out of and time is running out. Desperate times call for desperate measures and everyone is holding their breath to hope that he doesn’t do something very, very stupid any time soon… This is the best real life TV soap opera to watch for now. SAD!

Just when we thought that Oct cannot get any more interesting, more unexpected things happen…

Traditionally, this month scares the financial markets as it is one of the most volatile and bank traders look to achieve their budget by the end of this month before the year-end holidays and closure of the bank books. But then again, 2020 is a year we have all never seen before and cannot wait for this terrible year to end soon…

The 1st US presidential debate on Tues, 29 Sep was a real shit fest. The 90 minutes was practically a shouting match between 2 toddlers vying for the most powerful position in the world. The moderator was trying to control the situation unsuccessfully as both candidates interrupted each other. Trump was at his bullying worse, cutting into Biden more than 100+ times. I think the strategy was trying to pressure Biden to stumble, stressing him to stutter and justifying that he was not fit to govern.

Trump was back into his usual tried and tested lies, avoiding talking about policies which is his weakness. Biden was drawn in to act non-presidential too, calling Trump a clown and telling the president to shut up a few times. The attacks went personal as Biden’s sons were also fair game. This debate was supposed to be for the candidates to articulate their plans and policies but it was a wasted effort. Each had a few minutes to talk about a number of topics but Biden’s train of thought was constantly interrupted by the orange one.

The main highlight of the debate was when Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and telling the Proud Boys group to “Stand back and stand by”. Amazing that this even happened in such a debate. There was initial universal condemnation of the debate as shameful while Trump thought that he had won until most commentators pointed the finger at him for ruining the debate by displaying unpresidential behaviour.

The vice presidents will have a go at debating next Thurs on 08 Oct. I cannot wait for Kamala (Alamak spelt backwards), an ex-prosecutor, to tear Pence a new asshole when they clash. Pence is a bit wooden like Goh CT during the televised debates a long time ago where the opposition chewed him up while he just stared blankly ahead.

Then before the dust settles down, Trump dropped the bomb that he and FLOTUS have COVID19 late Thurs, 01 Oct. This curveball really threw the already messy political situation into limbo as we are just about a month before US elections. What would happen now that he is incapacitated, that all campaigning has to be suspended? Will he use this excuse to make the results invalid, just like what he was trying to do for all mail-in votes?

Everyone wishes him well and speedy recovery, but he is in the high-risk group (> 70 years old) and slightly obese. Was this absolutely preventable? Of course, it is! He is tested daily but refuses to wear masks and encourages reckless behaviour by continuing to have mass rallies of his supporters without masks or social distancing measures. The irony of it all is that he is killing off his supporters by exposing them to the virus unnecessarily.

He is the main reason that America is currently in such a bad state of affairs for COVID19, having a high number of cases and deaths. How can the most advanced developed country in the world handle this so badly as compared to many smaller and developing countries? Denials and conspiracy theories plus the right to not wear masks (1st amendment) were deemed better than scientist recommendations. The 1st wave never ended and the 2nd started. Lockdowns were wasted as everyone reopened too soon and they went back to square one.

The virus does not discriminate. Anyone is fair game. You let a small window open and the whole group is F%$ked. Even during the 1st presidential debate, all of his supporters including his family refused to wear masks in the enclosed room. How reckless is that? His camp is now blaming it on Hope Hicks and trying to do contact tracing. The worse part of it was that he knew he was exposed on Thurs morning but yet continued to go to a fundraising event that afternoon. Exposed persons should have gone into 14 days quarantine immediately, not continue to endanger others. The UK even just started a 10k fine recently for people who tested positive but refused to go on quarantine.

The next few days will be critical as he was injected with experimental antibodies drugs – not bleach LOL… The elections are in turmoil now as more of the White House team now tested positive and most would have to be quarantined as they were exposed. Imagine one side of the political parties suddenly went quiet overnight?!?! Will they blame their loss on the virus and try to invalidate the results? Strange times when people get desperate…

Back to part 2 of my Oxford journal. I returned the rented car mid-week and spent a few quiet days in the apartment doing my business calls for Myanmar and the consultancy group townhall. Myanmar is now experiencing a surge in its first wave as cases grow exponentially to 15k from just under a few hundred 3 weeks ago. Cases now average about 1k per day and they can only do 4k of testing a day. That is a 25% positivity rate!! Who knows how many more cases are there for a country with a 55 million population.

My son’s school term is starting this week as he gets begins his orientation program. While I would like to spend time with him, he will be too busy and I do not want to impose on him. I moved to a new apartment in the city which is just a short walk to his dorms for the next 2 weeks. They upgraded me and I was pleasantly surprised to have a newly renovated and modern apartment within a 300 years old well preserved building in the heart of Oxford city. Time to slowly explore this great place which has been the center of education for hundreds of years.

My older son and I arrived in the UK on 19 Sep, Sat at 0555. Just 2 hours earlier, UK had added S’pore into the quarantine exempt list of countries.

We originally planned to do 14 days of quarantine separately in his dorm and in the apartment I rented. But we found out only a day earlier before our Fri flight of the good news. We decided not to change the flights as the tickets had to be issued a week before the departure date.

The flight was uneventful as everyone had to keep to themselves and the middle seat was kept empty for social distancing. Only 93 passengers where it normally was at least 200+. Airlines are bleeding badly and SIA is only flying at 8% capacity. I guess this S’pore-London route of 3 to 4 flights a day is their main source of income now. The flight attendants keep to as little physical contact as possible, serving meals and not doing their usual high SQ service. It was just like taking a long bus journey. Why would one pay for business and first-class now, other than having more comfortable and larger seats?

The moment we landed, the immigration process was so quick with our biometric passports. They did not even need to stamp our passports nor check the online form we were required to fill just 48 hours before the flight. The machine took a photo of our faces and probably did all the expected AI document comparisons and authorizations instantaneously.

We had booked an MPV with a driver to go directly to Keble College where he will be putting up for his first term. It is very likely that he could come back home for his Dec Christmas holidays as he only needs to do quarantine at the S’pore end. He hopes to be able to celebrate with his girlfriend their 3rd anniversary as a couple 🙂

Once he settled down, we went to Oxford city to grab some essential stuff that he needed immediately, like bedsheets and pillowcases. Once I think that he is ok, I called a cab at 12+ to check into my 2 bedroom apartment at London Road, Headington. It was much better than I thought and I was very pleased with the facilities and a small private garden included. Spent the rest of the day exploring my street and getting some groceries to stock up.

Met Justin the next day at Oxford city for the first of our many Sunday Roast at a Pub lunch. We chose The Plough at 38 with a very nice outdoor table. Then it was more shopping for essentials before taking my bus back to the apartment.

Given that we need not be on quarantine anymore and we had time on our hands, I decided to rent a car for 8 days so that we can be more mobile and drive around the countryside to visit some nearby towns. It will also allow us more quality father-son bonding time as he could stay over at my place for a few nights.

I picked up the rented car on Tuesday morning and we went to the Bicester Village factory outlet for a nice lunch. Seems like there was no recession at all!! the place was full on a Tues and the 1,000 lot car park was also full!! Amazing! After lockdown and COVID, people were still aggressively shopping for branded stuff!

My son stayed over for the 1st of the second overnight stays in my apartment and we had a couple of nice home-cooked meals courtesy of ready-made TV dinner meals from the supermarket. The next day, we visited the city of Swindon as someone told me that things are cheaper there. We spent a few hours there walking around and having lunch at Rudi’s.

For the next 2 days, I was on my own for Thur and Fri as he had to go back to campus to finish up some work. I went to Marriott Walks in Witney on Thurs. It was a quaint place but lovely small town to walk around to get the British countryside vibe. On Fri, I decided to visit the famous Blenheim Palace at Woodstock. It was a good trip to see the only privately held palace in Oxfordshire. A super cars festival was also held then and I have never seen so many sports cars of all brands in one location. There must have been at least 100+ of them parked and displayed at the lawns outside the palace. So many “elites” owners gathering while the virus is decimating the economy. The irony!

I picked Justin up on Sat morning from his dorm and we went to Stratford Upon Avon. It was the place my wife had reminded me to bring him. We were there more than 20 years ago and I cannot really remember the place. It was the birthplace of William Shakespeare and there were a lot of walkways to explore. We had a very nice lunch there in a restaurant called The Lamb.

The next day, on the recommendation of a friend who used to study here, we went to Henley-on-Thames. If not for the cold (below 10 degrees C) and the strong wind, it would be a very pleasant walk along the river. She recommended a pub next to the river for Sunday Roast which we took a table outside to watch rowers sail pass the river while we ate.

Dropped him off in Keble the next morning on Mon after his last night with me at the apartment. We had 2 good home-cooked dinners over the weekend too. On my own again, I decided to visit another 3 Cotswold towns that day. Banbury was a bigger place where I had breakfast to escape the morning cold. Bought some stuff which I think Justin will need for his room, like a portable heater. Then it was off to Chipping Norton to check out the woollen trade. It was a super small town over the main street and most of its attractions were closed due to the virus. The last place I visited was Burford which was another small town over the main street where I had my required pint and a pizza for lunch.

I guess I have visited most of the Cotswold district already over the last week and the drives were just an hour or less from our apartment. The COVID situation is still worrying as the UK has been hit by the 2nd wave and Boris is threatening to cancel Christmas as school term is starting and students still want to party… More measures are being put into place and more to come.

Some places like Liverpool and Manchester are going into stricter lockdown measures. While cases are spiking up, the death rates seem to have eased and are lower than the 1st wave. Most shops require masks for entry while indoors but the majority still do not wear a mask when outdoors. The fresh countryside air is very nice and I have started going for long jogs over the last 2 days.

I will return the rented car tomorrow and move to new accommodation within Oxford City on Sat for another 2 weeks before flying home for a 2 weeks quarantine.

Older son’s uni term is fast approaching and we have been preparing for this for the last few months as uncertainties abound. He will begin his 3 years towards an Oxford Economics and Management degree.

His school starts in early Oct and we were prepared to do the compulsory 2 weeks quarantine as S’pore was not in the UK’s list of exempt countries. It does not help that the UK has been throwing a lot of countries in EU out of this list as the 2nd wave started to hit countries like Spain and France.

He was suppose to quarantine in his college in Keble and while I had booked an apartment about 4 km from the city center. I would then extend another 2 weeks in Oxford before heading home for another 2 weeks of quarantine in a S’pore hotel.

Then surprisingly, on the day before we were supposed to leave, S’pore suddenly made it into UK’s exempt list. It was too late for us to change the departure date as the tickets had to be issued a week before the flight. I had also paid for the accommodations a few days before.

We decided to proceed as planned as there was no point to delay the inevitable trip anymore. The upside is that the probability of him coming back in Dec has increased by 50% as he will not need to quarantine himself when he returns to the UK in mid-Jan.

The departure day on Friday was a long day as various family members and friends wished him well for his new adventure. The flight was also a late-night 11330 pm one. It was quite a full flight of 93 passengers where it normally would be at least 200+ because of the required social distancing restrictions. All the middle seats were left empty and wearing a mask during the whole 13 hours long journey was compulsory.

It was a relatively uneventful trip and the flight attendants had to avoid any unnecessary contact with the passengers. It was almost like taking a long bus journey. We tried to watch movies to keep awake as a strategy to reduce the jet lag as the UK is 7 hours behind S’pore time.

We landed at 0555 in the morning and the immigration process was surprisingly fast as there were few flights and we could use our bio-metric passports. There was also no need for the usual stamping of the passports… We collected our luggage and were out of the airport within 35 minutes. We had booked an MPV for a direct trip to Oxford as we wanted to avoid any delays or to use public transport.

Since the new addition of S’pore into the UK exempt list took effect only at 4 am on 19 Sep, 2 hours before we land, I really could not imagine our luck. The same thing happened 2 months ago when S’pore moved to phase 2 on 19 Jun, just a day before my younger son’s and my birthday! I immediately asked my father in law to buy the following 4D numbers – 1919 for the next 2 weeks 🙂

Since we do not need to quarantine ourselves in Oxford anymore, we dropped our bags in his new room and went to the Westgate mall to buy some of the stuff he needed. Once he was settled down by noontime, I proceeded to call a cab to head to my apartment.

While we were used to wearing masks whenever we were outside in S’pore, it is still not compulsory in the UK. Most people who are outside do not wear masks. But when indoors, most shops would require masks before allowing anyone in.

The other thing I noticed was that places like Oxford and the place I was putting up in Headington were so cosmopolitan. I see so many non-whites like myself and others from Africa and South Asia who have already been in the UK for many years. It could be due to the colonization of many countries by the UK for hundreds of years and their more open attitude towards immigrants.

We intend to rent a car and drive around the countryside while avoiding large cities like London. We continue to wear our masks when outside. More students are starting to come into Oxford as term starts soon.

The student who is in the room next to my son had checked in a few days earlier and is doing his 2 weeks quarantine now. Ironically, he is from California. He told my son that he is glad to breath clean air again after the terrible forest fires there that turned the skies orange.

The second wave of the virus is starting to hit the UK and the numbers are increasing. The government acknowledge that the country cannot afford to have another full-scale lockdown again as this will really decimate the already weak economy. They are leaning towards a series of tightening measures which they could name as Circuit Breakers. LOL moment as it was exactly what S’pore called them and breaking the stages into Phase 1, 2 and eventually 3.

Less than 50 days to the US elections and the Myanmar virus situation had skyrocketed to more than 10x within weeks. We are in for an explosive Q4 into an annus horribilis 2020 which everyone wished it was a nightmare which we could wake up from and forget about this year totally.

Another subdued week doing housekeeping stuff and getting ready for our UK trip next week for the start of my older son’s uni term. It will be an adventure travelling to Oxford in these Covid19 times.

We reached some milestones this week as my older son celebrated his 21st birthday. How time flies as I watch my own flesh and blood grow over the years from a baby to a toddler, teenager and now a young adult with voting rights. It is an amazing journey tracking his growth and the development of his thought processes. Hopefully, he has developed a strong infrastructure by now to prepare him for the next stage of his life journey. He will start his 3 years of uni in Oxford soon to do an Economics and Management degree.

We spent the last 2 weekends doing a scrapbook with photos as a 21st birthday present/farewell gift for him. My younger son coordinated the whole effort to reach out to various parties, family members, cousins and friends to create this booklet. We sorted out old photos and wrote messages on our individual pages to attach to the booklet. It was a labour of love for all of us. We then had a nice family celebration on Tues at La Petit Chef with a made-to-order birthday cake.

I waited for months to execute the FX to buy GBP for his 1st-year school fees and finally did it on Tues. I should have waited a few more days as Boris outdid himself by trying to backtrack on UK’s promise to the EU. I am generally bearish on GBP due to Brexit and have asked my son to only convert as and when he needs it over the next few years. I can only foresee negatives for the UK for wanting to break away from the European Union.

Thanks to stored-value eWallets like YouTrip and TransferWise, another bank staple rice bowl is being smashed. Anyone can now get close to interbank FX rates with the convenience of cashless payments. Covid19 has also accelerated the adoption process. Credit cards with their ridiculous FX spreads on overseas spending will now be a thing of the past. Moving and remitting money in real-time is also being offered free by banks now. Having a multi-currency account is also very common nowadays. So it is easy to move funds between banks and eWallets as one can use apps on the mobile to do it.

With the expected avalanche of job losses to be expected in the coming months because of the virus, the government has been trying to take proactive steps to help those affected to upgrade to learn new skills as well as create new jobs in the internet economy. My sister showed me an interesting SGUnited initiative organized by IBM which I shared with 2 other friends who were recently affected.

IBM had a Zoom call on Tues for those of us who registered online to get more information about it. Successful applicants to their 6 months courses on AI, Cloud Computing or Data Science will become full-time students taking up to 200 hours of study plus 1.5 hours of an exam at the end. This highly subsidized course cost about SGD 20,000 but we only need to pay SGD 500 which we can use our Skillsfuture funds to pay. On top of that, there will be a student allowance of SGD 1,500 per month for the duration of the 6 months course. If one cannot finish the program due to the reason that they found a full-time job, then they can drop out of the course without any penalties. How great is that??

https://webibmcourse.mybluemix.net/SGUnitedProgramme

The only big condition : an applicant cannot be having a part-time or full-time job during the program. My friend decided to apply as he was retrenched in Apr and did not see the possibility of getting a new job this year with the worsening job market.

For me on the other hand, I have been doing my Myanmar consultancy role and also recently completed my IBF project via the consultancy group I belong to. There may be upcoming projects in the near future but this IBM program may hinder my consultancy work. This is a problem for those currently freelancing in the gig economy like Grab drivers too.

Google is also conducting a similar SGUnited program too: https://grow.google/intl/ALL_sg/skillsignitionsg/#?career–ready-with-google_activeEl=career–learning-plans

Separately, another business opportunity is also developing for me in Myanmar. The chairman at the group level has been observing for the last 2.5 years what we consultants have been doing at the microfinance subsidiary on Treasury, Risk and Audit processes. There are now ongoing discussions about getting the 3 of us to replicate it at the group level for all 12 subsidiaries, to push them up to a stronger level of corporate governance by strengthening their infrastructure with new committees and policies which currently doesn’t exist. My 3 months IBF project as an exam questions setter has also finally come to an end. I had to submit an invoice for my work and hopefully will be paid in Oct.

Finally, I had lunch with my current NUSS mentee yesterday. 12 months had passed and Covid19 had disrupted most of the mentorship process. I am happy that he had managed to secure a permanent job offer from JPM after he graduates next year. This ambitious guy had managed to do internships in Citi, JPM and GIC, being very sharp and hungry about his career. It was refreshing for me to share my life and work experiences with him and I hope that he finds it helpful. I have volunteered to participate in this mentorship program again for the 3rd year and we will be having a Zoom call on Mon to present ourselves to a new set of 25 potential mentees.

Just under a week from now, my son and I will head to the UK. It is indeed strange and unusual times to travel overseas in this Covid19 era. We have been preparing for months and will take safety precautions seriously. We will head straight to Oxford and begin our 14 days of required quarantine in separate locations, him in Keble College and myself in an apartment that I had rented. I will then stay for another 2 weeks to help him settle down before heading home for another 14 days of quarantine in S’pore.

I prefer to look at the bright side of things and enjoy this “vacation” of me-time while tasting nice Scottish whisky along the way. I will always remember to stay healthy and happy, to count my blessings every day 🙂