Tag Archives: quarantine

The Year That Wasn’t

1 Jan

Goodbye Year 2020! What a year it turned out to be. I felt that it was a year that wasn’t – in other words, we were, firstly, short-changed for nine months in our lives and secondly, didn’t turn out so great as many envisioned it would be.

Before reaching this nice number, people, myself included, thought it would be a spectacular year. But alas, how wrong we all were. The Covid-19 pandemic created so much havoc in the world. And everything is never the same again.

Gone are the closeness and freedom that we took for granted with our movement with friends, society in general, and places we visit; in place, it is now constant caution, fear to a certain degree, and restriction.

For me, I felt my 2020 was just three months only, the first quarter of the year. After we went into lockdown in March, the next nine months, day-in, day-out felt like deja-vu. A new routine was born, and old habits had to give way because we had to learn to adjust to the new normal. Thank goodness we didn’t go crazy with cabin fever, and instead, discovered ourselves in many other aspects.

I learned to appreciate my friends, the home, and family more. Although work at the office took a beating to practically zero design work in March and April, it did not dampen our spirits. M2 came back from Ireland and had an extended six-month summer break. M1 stayed put, and we talked every morning to keep her company.

The new normal made both of us manage our time better to be more productive in other things. Hubby learned to bake, an unthinkable endeavor in all the years that I have known him, and I brushed up my cooking skills to widen the variety in our meals because eating out was not an option.

I also picked up a new hobby to keep myself busy after my Meranti wood supply for carving depleted by May. From June onwards, I started working on DIY miniature sets, and have completed nine DIY sets thus far in a spate of six months.

Another good thing that came out of this situation was my golf game, which improved tremendously. With downtime in the office, I was playing more golf than ever. After the lockdown eased, and golf was allowed because it is an outdoor activity, I was golfing up to four times a week! So maybe the year wasn’t that bad after all on the personal front despite being in deja-vu mode.

As 2020 is behind us now, it does not mean the pandemic is over. Far from it, in fact. We should remain vigilant, put on our masks whenever we are in public areas, and keep a one-meter distance apart to be safe.

A toast to a better year ahead – may 2021 bring better fortune and goodness for everyone. Happy New Year, and stay safe wherever you are!

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The Biggest DIY Set, Part 2

29 Dec

The IKEA display cabinet, the enormous DIY set, was finally set up on Christmas morning. It was a messy affair, far worse than Christmas present papers strewn all over the floor upon unwrapping. Thank goodness the living room floor space is large, and even then, the torn boxes covered the floor space.

We had to rip the box to get the things out

I must say the cabinet looks good with all my DIY projects proudly on display. Unfortunately, the space is limited, and I had to place some miniature sets back-to-back. And at the rate that I am making all these miniatures, one display cabinet is not enough!

I may have to buy another cabinet because project number five is left sitting on top, and I am currently working on project number nine. The display cabinet has no more space to fit anymore inside.

All my small DIYs inside the big DIY piece

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An Excellent Piece

28 Dec

DIY project number eight is a wrap! I must say it is an excellent piece in terms of looks, quality, and enjoyment level. I completed the project on Christmas Eve morning.

The chandelier piece stalled me towards the end of the project. From piecing it together and then installing it, it was an unexpected problem.

At the start, I kept checking the lights and wiring to ensure all the lights and connections were working. I decided to bypass two steps because an elaborate chandelier is never easy. I did not use the rubber hose for the center light. Instead, I used a black Sharpie to camouflage the white and yellow wires. I also did not clamp the three lights to the center light, leaving them protruding outwards more. I thought it looked better.

However, after gluing the chandelier to the ceiling, one of the lights did not work. I was horrified and almost in tears! All that hard work and effort to make sure the lighting and wires were okay, this happened – a day before Christmas Eve.

Painfully, I had no choice but to rip out the chandelier to trace where the problem was. Thankfully I found it. One of the connections of the light inside the rubber hose was loose!

I managed to resolve the issue and brought DIY project number eight to the Christmas Eve dinner for a proud Show and Tell session.

The very impressive DIY project #8

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A Very Different Christmas

25 Dec

2020, what a year! How do we even describe it? For starters, this Christmas is a very different one in all aspects – the mood, the celebration, and the people.

The mood is muted, the celebration toned down or none at all, and people are socially-distanced to stay safe.

For the first time, both our girls are away from home during this festive holiday time. The house feels bigger because our domestic helper returned to her homeland in January, and official pet number one went to pet heaven last year. So it’s just the two of us.

Thankfully, there’s the extended family to have a simple, joyous Christmas Eve dinner at home. We count our blessings and are thankful for the close-knit bond.

Here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! Stay safe.

Hubby baked an apple cinnamon cake for the occasion, and the turkey was the main course.

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Surprise, Surprise… Not

22 Dec

Well, well, the CMCO was extended again until the end of the year! It certainly wasn’t a surprise and expected. What can we do? Life goes on with my routine revolving around cooking, cleaning, golf games, and DIY miniatures. Oh yeah, and the occasional design work to do in the office.

The last nine months went by rather quickly. When we went into lockdown in March during a global pandemic, we thought how dreadful life would be. But as I reflect now, it wasn’t that bad. Instead, we should be thankful that we are healthy. Along the way, both hubby and I discovered new skills and hobby.

If the CMCO phase continues to usher in the new year, so be it. We need to continue to contain the spread of the Covid-19. Stay safe, folks!

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Eenie Meenie Miney Mo

21 Dec

The latest DIY purchases arrived! So now, I have all these DIY sets waiting for me. Initially, I thought upon completing DIY project number eight, the Study – I should work on the fruit shop set next to take things easy without stress.

But seeing the intricate and exciting new sets, I am having second thoughts about taking things easy and may jump into the more challenging ones. Maybe I’ll Eenie Meenie to pick one.

Which one next to do? Hmm. 🧐

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Excuses! Excuses!

18 Dec

I find myself admiring and playing with project number eight instead of finishing it up. Every evening, I would place a Citizen of Gigglesville on the sofa chair and giggle at the scene before me. It’s very entertaining!

Citizens visiting the Study
Looking very contented!
Citizen #118 doing a balancing act

I am finding excuses to procrastinate and not to start on the lights. There’s the fact that I have work to do in the office this whole week, and I don’t have the time because I’m also playing golf and cooking. It’s becoming a mental block.

Honestly, I find reading instructions is not something I enjoy. But doing up the lights requires focus, and I need to be more disciplined about this if I intend to wrap up project number eight before Christmas. So, no more excuses!

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DIY Project #8, Part 3

14 Dec

The tail-end of project number eight is just so hard! I find that I do not quite enjoy making chandeliers or hanging lights for all my sets. The last complicated one during project number five was a let-down. After painstakingly working on them and putting them up, the middle light did not work. I was disappointed.

Gotta push myself to do the lights

So here I am, procrastinating on this lighting challenge. I thought I would take some time to finish this project, but I’m much faster than anticipated. All the shelves, books, and accessories are done and placed accordingly to the plan as outlined. Even the sofa chair, which initially, I thought would be a challenge, was completed without issues. I even took the initiative to change the color of the main wall.

The making of a sofa chair
The completed sofa chair

Well, I’m pushing myself to wrap this up soon because I’m keen to get started on project number nine, a fruit shop similar to project number seven, the tea parlor. In other words, it is an easy set, and it would be nice to end the tumultuous year working on something easy without any added stress.

Making my Citizens try the sofa chair. Some are happy, some are not!

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Yet Another Extension

11 Dec

It is yet another extension of the CMCO. We expected this because cases have been on the uptrend. Anyway, we are immune already because we are so used to the routine and requirements now. And it feels weird if we don’t abide by the rules especially, putting on the mask.

Frankly, there is no let-up as far as the pandemic and prevention SOP is concerned. During the previous CMCO phase, the single-player, single-buggy rule for golf was in effect, although couples from one household can share one buggy.

But this latest extension from 6 December until 20 December allows twin-sharing golf carts for golfers not necessarily from the same household for a round of golf. So from here forth, a flight of four golfers will have the usual two twin-sharing buggies instead of four individual ones.

I think I will feel weird sharing a golf buggy with someone else other than hubby because I have gotten so used to it already! Also, ever since we’ve been playing together, we have an ongoing Matchplay rivalry, tracked with the Hole 19 app on my AppleWatch Series 5. I will miss the Matchplay challenges if we don’t play together. Oh well, we’ll see how the golf outings turn out.

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DIY Project #8, Part 2

7 Dec

Project number eight has been progressing well. I even joined a Facebook group of fans working on such DIY projects. There are various sets, and all these DIY die-hards share their efforts, progress, and finished sets on the social media site. I get very motivated and inspired when I see all the beautiful results!

From the group, I learned a few new things or two. These fans are pros! Some of them even customized their sets with extra accessories or colors. It never crossed my mind to customize the DIY sets from the very beginning.

My set will have a green wall

Who knows, maybe from here on, I will customize my sets too. For now, I will stick to what’s on the instruction book to complete project number eight without extra items. However, I did paint the main wall a lime green color instead of leaving it white.

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