Sydney

Spending close to seven months in Sydney, has made me look forward to heading back even more. The main differences this time around is that we actually had a summer, we actually managed to gather as an extended family for Christmas and I made it into the city for New Year's Eve. Other side notes, lots of friends returning to Sydney, had a classic Australian Backyard gathering in Sutherland, caught up with lost touch uni friends and stayed in my first Sydney Airport hotel. Oddly enough, the Christmas gathering ended up being a mini covid event, thankfully all who contracted it recovered fairly fast. 

Took me a while to acclimatise to Sydney, that Thailand trip did a real number on my system, I remember describing it as if I had a combination of jet lag and insomnia. Will try to make more a conscious effort to get back to Sydney more often. Farewell, again.

Wonderfruit

 

Bangkok

Despite spending majority of the year overseas I find myself closing out the year with a fair amount of annual leave. Unfortunately, work policy has once again changed, with the carry-over leave amount being reduced back to 5 days. 

So here I am, in December, with 12 days of 'use-it-or-lose-it' leave. It also feels like that the "Work from Home" initiative is slowly losing its legitimacy. So with that being said, I decide to spend the remaining 3 weeks in Bangkok and Sydney. 

All, in all, I've spent over 7 months outside of Hong Kong in 2023. 

3: Amber code

So as we round up 2022, Hong Kong as a whole is moving in the right direction. Cases remain high, however the severity seems to have waned. Meanwhile the virus runs rampant in the Mainland, Hong Kong feels to be slowly inching towards a state of normalcy. The fact that we are celebrating the removal of hotel quarantine goes to show when faced with such draconian measures, any progress in the right direction is a win.

So upon returning from KL, I have three days of isolation in the comfort of my apartment. I think this is a great way to return to Hong Kong from abroad.

Wedding

 Frank and Anisa 2022

Covid strikes

The last couple of years have disrupted wedding schedules. As such, we've seen a fair amount of virtual weddings, last minute weddings, postponed weddings and even the forfeit of large wedding ceremonies. With things slowly opening up, our cousin decided (rather last minute) to arrange a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur. It's an excuse for people to get together and the first family trip since Cairns, and first time abroad in a long time.

So this trip, had a handful of challenges. 1) mum's passport had expired and had to request an emergency replacement, which unfortunately due to the lack of customer support proved to be quite a nerve wracking race against time. 2) Charlie needed a passport to travel 3) the flights booked by mum and dad did not include check-in luggage, and 4) everybody except me got covid and missed the wedding.

The first three challenges were resolved and we managed to book a couple of serviced apartments for our trip. It was only on the Sunday morning one week after arriving in Malaysia when dad started having a cough, then a fever. We continue to socialise over Sunday until he takes a RAT which turns up positive, and he is forced into isolation. Unfortunately this did little to spread the virus as one by one, fevers and coughs were being reported. Mom, Rio, Auntie, Charlie. Within 2 days everybody was testing positive. All, except me. 

Paranoid that I may have already caught Covid for a second time, I go into isolation 3 days after arriving into Malaysia. I end up dining alone and potting about the hotel deciding when I should take a PCR to ensure I can attend the wedding. On the Thursday I decide to get a PCR and inadvertently whack my foot against the kitchen counter. The PCR comes back negative, my foot hurts, I get an x-ray, slight fracture, I'm given pain killers.

I attend the wedding. Although it felt weird knowing that everybody was stuck inside the apartment. The final day we have breakfast, by now everybody is feeling better. It feels all very illegal to gather as a group. What an unexpected trip.

Four-zero

Managed to get to 40 years old. Where has time gone? It was a fairly low key affair, small gathering, some cake and some whisky. Looking forward to cracking the Mouton open!