Sia suay

The quieter crowd I experienced on Monday was just a one-day thing. It was back to almost normal on Wednesday and Thursday. Clearly people do not give a shit over health and virus so it is not surprising when it was announced yesterday about stricter measures starting from next Tuesday (7 April). Only essential workplace and essential businesses will open and the rest must close. Schools will be closed. This is not a lockdown whatsoever because people movement will not be restricted.

Clearly people still do not give a shit and they are more concerned about panic hoarding. Seriously... I went to Orchard to top up one of my acne creams and I was hoping Orchard would not be busy. Heck... Orchard also did not escape from all the sia suay hoarding. It was before 11am and I only wanted to get Danzen from Guardian. The queue for the cashier was already 8-10 people long. I considered myself lucky because by the time I was done, the shop already had to restrict entry to prevent it from becoming too congested and people had to queue outside to enter. The 'atas' Market Place at Paragon was already full of sia suays. I thought I would not be able to get any fruits today if even the more expensive supermarket was already that crowded.

Takashimaya changed its operating hours to start at 11am and that was a blessing in disguise. Although I had to wait about 15 minutes until it opened, at least I had the chance to enter when Cold Storage just opened. The long queue to enter Takashimaya was a clear indication how these sia suays only cared about shopping and not so much about distancing. I quickly grabbed a bunch banana and did not bother to check on other things so that I could avoid long queues at the cashier. The condition inside Cold Storage was already quite bad. Some of the fruit baskets were already half empty, long queue at the Delicatessen, and generally people were moving and grabbing things in sia suay mode.

I don't think books are essential so I visited Kinokuniya for one last time before one month hiatus. Ooh la la.. I think people were also hoarding books for them to have something to do at home for the next month. There is ongoing sale and yet the queue was the longest I have ever seen. The queue from the front cashier snaked all the way to the glass door where the escalator inside the store is. I did not have anything in mind to look for but usually when that happened, I would end up finding something. I was right. Gundam Wing The Glory of the Losers is already completed until Vol 14.

Amazon is currently suspending shipping to Singapore and in the end I bought from Book Depository. The last time I bought from them was in 2013 wow.. I hope the shipping from UK will not be badly affected by the virus and these comics will reach me just nice as my birthday present. When I knew of the English version of this manga, I decided to wait until everything was out in hope of a box set. I just realised that the English version is by Vertical Comics instead of by Viz or Kodansha so I doubt there will ever be a box set and that is why I decided to buy.

Recession is officially coming as all the banks are all lowering their deposit interest rates. I have around 50000 KrisFlyer miles expiring this August and with the current global situation, I don't know how I will use them. I used my thick skin to email SQ to ask if there would be extension of miles validity due to uncertain global aviation industry and will see how it goes. Meanwhile, the saddest thing for me in the coming month is the closure of gym because it is considered non-essential. Looks like this is where my weight loss journey will officially end T_T Even if I do some self-exercises in my room, it is impossible to meet the same intensity as my gym sessions. Haiz...

I never see Takashimaya B2 empty before