One of the most unnerving things about having to go into quarantine, in a hotel room, is: what to do with all that time - in a very limited space. It was definitely causing us to postpone our travel back to Malaysia, as it sounded/sounds really hard. So we thought a lot about things we could do, and made sure we took required things with us if needed, where possible. So far, 4 days into the quarantine, we haven't been bored at all. There are still 9 more full days to come, of course, so let's see how it goes...
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First, we owe this to our Malaysia friends: a food update. Here's our breakfast: mee and dim sum! Must be Sunday fare. Also, we had switched on our "do not disturb" button, which mutes the doorbell. So this morning we were not woken up at 7am. A good thing, as I had a very bad night of jetlag sleep. Hopefully the jetlag is more or less over now...
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| And lunch: rice and chicken! Yep... But: it was tasty, with a good gravy and we had nice veggies (lady fingers and mushrooms) - so all good! |
There is one thing to add about not being bored. In the past 2,5 years, as I'm not working most of the time, we have learned to unwind and lead the slow life. When I stopped working, it was initially not easy to just do this for me either. Now, it's easy enough to take time for another coffee together, or play a game left and right. Doing "nothing" does not equal being bored - not anymore. That surely makes a difference.
So, let's get on with it! The best way to introduce you to our activities: pictures!
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First of all: we have music playing the entire day. I bought this speaker online during our previous quarantine, and it has been great to have. I just hope we won't need to use for yet another quarantine after this.
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Playing Spotify playlists the whole day. One of the things planned, but not even started yet: refresh my Spotify playlists.
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Especially for the quarantine, we (finally) bought 2 e-readers (Kobo). That way, we have an unlimited number of books to read in a small, pleasant device rather than carrying these bulky, heavy paper things around. So far, to be honest, I haven't read that much; a little bit every day, but at this rate I might not even finish this book. It's a giant though, basically a trilogy, so there's a lot of reading work to be done. Luckily I read part of it a whole while ago in Belgium already, I do have a chance of finishing.
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Here's a big project I've been working on. Back in 1993-94 Ellen and I made a 9-month backpacking trip through Asia. I kept a diary and took photographs (slides, the "good old" analog way). Throughout the past year/months, I have entered all text digitally, and scanned all the slides. Now I'm pouring all this into a complete digital version of the diaries, and this will definitely take a lot of my time during this quarantine. Will I share this diary afterwards? Not sure yet. It will need some editing, remove some sensitive and personal stuff, and also... it's in Dutch for now.
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Here's one that is not for me: knitting.
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Playing cards - which so far we have used only once, very very briefly.
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| Every day we're doing some exercises, and it's good to strengthen some parts of the body that are not trained by running. We've noticed very well that, while the lower body is strong and well trained, the upped body needs work. A lot. We're following a "sculpt guide" by Zanna Van Dijk, something Vere recommended us. It's good, but wow it's work! Next to that, we're also doing abs and core strengthening exercises. It takes us between 30' and 1h every day. |
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| Hard to explain this one... Probably obvious for the Dutch speakers... And well, it was written in ancient Sanskrit in India, dated to 400 BCE–200 CE and attributed to an Indian philosopher, Vatsyayana. I say no more! |
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Last but not least, the blog! A daily blog post so far, and I'll try to keep that up. Ha, this is the classic picture in the picture: the blog in the blog.
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Let's see how it goes... But I'm not so weary of it anymore. There are even things we had planned, and haven't even done yet: follow a MOOC, plan trips, place pictures on Shutterstock, watch TV, get on Netflix to go for some binge watching, listen to podcasts - we even have good recommendations from friends for some of this. No need - not yet.
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Last one. Maybe because I mentioned yesterday that we would love more vegetables, we received these biscuits today. Look carefully... Not sure if this is the solution we were looking for LOL
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The one thing I surely miss however, is some real physical exercise: biking, hiking, running. No doubt, we'll catch up and even make up for it after our release...
Of, and if you'd like to know what I'll be writing about tomorrow: don't know yet. I have some idea's but nothing decided. So, only one way to find out...
