Sayonara Olympics 2020

2021 is like a year that does not exist. It was Euro 2020 earlier this year followed with the Olympics 2020. Despite being held this year, both events retain the 2020 as they were slated for last year and were delayed because of the pandemic. With the Olympics coming to a close tonight, the news will all be about COVID and vaccination again. And yep, the COVID is still 2019. Poor 2021.

In my previous post last week, I doubted if Indonesia could win any badminton gold so I was very happy to hear that the Women's Doubles won gold on the following day. Unfortunately I did not get to watch and join in the excitement as the match was in the afternoon and I was still working. Other than the badminton matches I caught two weeks ago, I only watched the final for Men 10m diving yesterday. Only after that I realised that I can actually stream meWATCH via laptop. That is goodbye to the app in the iPad. Haha...

As I am watching the closing ceremony right now, I cannot feeling sad about how cruel this pandemic has been. It reminds me of attending the closing ceremony of SEA Games 2015 and I imagined how more amazing this Olympics could have been if not because of COVID. To see the empty stadium and the quiet around the stadium is really heart-breaking. It must be quite sad for the athletes too as not everyone can attend the closing ceremony due to COVID precautions and they have to fly back few days after their last participating event. I also feel nostalgic when I see their landyards. I saw the landyards in Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta and it seems that despite they are all different Games, the design of the landyards is similar. Aaah.. I wonder if I am ever be able to experience this kind of involvement again. Nevertheless, I can only treasure the memories of SEA Games and Paragames 2015.

I am feeling miserable this weekend because of all the upcoming vaccination discrimination measures. Thank goodness at least Sinovac would be recognised now so I have pre-registered with a few clinics and now it is just waiting on when I can get a slot. I am not an anti-vaxxer but I am really skeptical about COVID vaccines which I think is just as useless as the annual flu vaccines. To me, what is the point of vaccination which cannot prevent disease. All the compulsory childhood vaccinations are effective to prevent those infections (e.g. TB, polio, DPT, hepatitis) and they are not just to reduce the risks bla bla bla. I know it is not compulsory for COVID but all the measures are as good as forcing everyone. Anyway since I have to do it to get the vaccinated status and all are quite shitty in terms of the efficacy, I choose the more traditional vaccine to minimise unknown risk with the newer mRNA technology and so far only Sinovac is available here.

On the bright side, it makes me hopeful of the possibility of travelling again. It is quite pathetic but I felt somewhat happy just simply of checking on how to renew my passport and about application for multiple entry to Japan. Haiz.. I wonder when life will be back to normal.