Since my last entry on lockdown life, I’ve got into a good stay-home routine that’s also mighty productive. I began my May with a staff breakfast over Zoom, with a meal package delivered to our home (single-serving, airline style) from my day job in Subang Jaya. For another freelance job with a Singapore agency, I did my last piece of feature article for them as the company was dissolved in early March. Goodbye, for it was a good two years!
Other administrative and social tasks in May include renewing my car insurance and road tax, speaking long-distance to an aunt in London for almost three hours, Whatsapp video calling my high school friends, and attending two writing critique sessions over Skype – one with a Penang group and another with a Singaporean group. Throughout May I was also part of a 1-minute story project, where I wrote a total of 18,000 words based on 20 prompts sent by my friend Hanno Frank of http://peafarm.net.
Despite reading seven books in May, I had a lot of screen time watching YouTube documentaries on topics as diverse as Vemeer, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Kurt Cobain. I also watched free Apple TV+ premieres and discovered Dickinson (so good!). In the world of British theatre and comedies, I enjoyed Cats the Musical, The Barbershop Chronicles, A Streetcar Named Desire, Shakespeare Globe’s Macbeth, Come Fly With Me, The IT Crowd and The Mighty Boosh. For Jamie Campbell-Bower, I endured six confusing episodes of The Prisoner.
By June we had started going back to the office in stages. Again I read another seven books, and I must say how thankful I am to have discovered Libby using my Singapore National Library card. In June, I renewed my WordPress domain, finished a 150-puzzle Sudoku book, finished another 138-puzzle Word Search book, received a lovely handpainted card from my flatmate in Singapore and tried many new things!
They include sharpening a kitchen knife, learning how to buy fresh poultry and seafood from Tesco Online, baking a banana and apple crumble in a 7” pan, reading comic books and enjoying a graphic novel by George O’ Connor. In June I also watched the full Nosferatu (1922) in black and white, directed by F. W. Murnau. It’s a classic that I recommend to all movie buffs. By the end of June my flatmate had returned from Singapore, and now the adventures continue!
Wan Phing Lim 