THE DIARY OF A MALAYSIAN TRAVELLING HOME FROM ABROAD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC - PART SEVEN

[CONTINUATION OF PART SIX]

22nd MAY 2020 [QUARANTINE DAY 15] - It was the day we all had been waiting for - FREEDOM! We had to wait in our rooms until our turns arrived. Initially we were scheduled to be called at 12 noon and we were among the last to be discharged. We were already on standby as early as at 8:30 a.m. and we could hear the knocks on the doors of the neighbouring rooms as they were freed earlier. At 10.15 a.m. however there was a loud knock on my door and we were instructed to leave the rooms and assembled near the lift. That was like 3 hours earlier than the expected call and thank God we were ready and prepared.

Our bags and luggage were carried by the staff on a trolley. We were first sanitized - not only our hands but our shoes were also sprayed with sanitizer liquid as well as our luggage. At the lobby, the check out process was done and we were given the permit to go back home by the police. Everything was done smoothly and effectively and by 10.30 a.m. we were ready to go. It was too fast until I did not even have the chance to snap any photos for the blog during this session.

The initial plan was my son would come to pick us up at 1:30 p.m. As it was still very early, I decided to take one of the blue cabs which was already waiting outside. Fortunately the 7-seat taxi could accommodate the three of us and all our luggage. The procedure was easier for me as I did not have to do a cross-state travel and the staff on duty helped us to put all our things inside the taxi, and off we went.

By 11.00 a.m. I reached home and my sons we already waiting to help carry all the things. Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, it was a huge relief that everything was over and we were all safe and healthy. This should be a once in a lifetime experience for my daughters and I, and Eid which would be celebrated in just 2 days, was a significant one as I was now reunited with my other children at home finally.

For one thing, one had to be prepared to be quarantined, especially if there are small children or teenagers accompanying, as there would be no physical contact at all with other people. As for my daughters, I was sure they had become more independent and learned to manage their daily lives on their own during the 14-day stay in separate rooms. 

I must compliment the frontliners, those who were directly involved in managing us, for their hard work and dedication throughout. I pray that the COVID-19 pandemic will be over soon and we could go back living our normal lives. I hope this experience would be the first and the last one for me.

THE DAY THE NURSERY CAME TO ME

I am so ready to start gardening again after the fasting month. I tried not to be under the hot, scorching sun in the month of Ramadhan for the fear I might get thirsty easily. Today, my stock of organic top soil and fertilizer and other related items were sent to my home as I bought quite a lot this time.

I actually went to "Nature at Work" Nursery the day before [27th MAY} to get all the things I wanted. To my surprise, there were a lot of visitors to the place and it was even difficult to secure a parking spot. People seem to be more interested and excited to do gardening during the MCO [Movement Control Order] period.

As the new normal, everybody would have to register their names and sanitize their hands so as to prevent from being infected by the evil COVID-19 virus.

I had to tell myself not to buy any new plants as I still need to tend many others that I already have at home. Let's pray for sunny days ahead as the intermittent regular rain is not good fot gardening.

SPOT THE ERROR 132

hint: spelling error

Thanks Mr. Fahmi Khan for the feed, all the way from Kedah.
Grammar Nazi is everywhere 😃

CELEBRATING EID 1441H DURING PANDEMIC TIME

1st SYAWAL 1441H/24th MAY 2020 ~ The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed the way people live and breathe. We are now even forced to adapt to the new normal for the social practices during the celebration of Eid this year. We have to follow the guidelines put forth so as to prevent the spread of the disease but Eid celebration will never be the same again. 

Eid's house visit was limited only on the first day and there should not be more than 20 people at the same time. However, if your house is small, and cannot accommodate 20 people with social distancing procedure, then that would also prohibited.  Too much restrictions had made Eid less fun in a way but all the safety measures were just for our own good.

Due to the time limit, the place I had to visit was my sister's place at Taman Selesa Jaya. Her family was already a crowd so that should be one full house when every family member was there.

As I still have some time before I had to go home so I had to maximize my Eid visit because that would not happen again the next day. The next house visited was of Puan Rokiah Junoh's at Taman Nusantara in Gelang Patah which happened just to be 18 minutes' drive away from my sister's place. Of course she said it was alright for me to come over when we whatsapp-ed each other earlier. I am a regular visitor to her house for Eid and I am glad I still could make it this year.

At first, there was a guest when I arrived, then two more came and about four more a few minutes after. I decided it was time to ask for permission to leave. It was a short visit but it was good to be able to pay Puan Rokiah, her husband and daughter a visit again.

So that was all for the Eid visit report this year.

There will be no more never-ending posts of Eid visits in my blog like last time for sure. Let's just pray that this pandemic will end very soon. The new normal is definitely not something we have to live our lives with for more years to come.

THE SWEET SURPRISES THAT ARRIVED THE DAY BEFORE EID

One of the things that I missed the most during this month of Ramadhan was the act of kindness among friends. I used to get cookies, cakes and various other things a few days before Eid. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, movements had been restricted hence we could no longer carry out things we loved to do in the recent past.

Good deeds shall never be stopped though and today a Secret Recipe's chocolate cake was sent to my house by a Grab motorcycle rider.

I was already over the moon but my excitement had not yet ended. A few minutes after that. another Grab driver stopped by and handed over to me a Baskin Robbin's polystyrene container which housed two tubs of ice cream.

I guess I the best thing I could do is to thank my Chinese friends/ex-colleagues of SMK Taman Universiti for their kind thoughts and I pray may God repay their kindness. *tears of joy*

The literally sweet surprises have brought a ray of happiness and tomorrow, all these would be shared with others as well.

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
~ Marcel Proust ~

THE DIARY OF A MALAYSIAN TRAVELLING HOME FROM ABROAD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC - PART SIX

[CONTINUATION OF PART FIVE]

15th MAY 2020 [Quarantine Day 8]

At about 1.00 p.m., the medical staff on duty knocked on my door and instructed us to fill in a form for the second swab test where another sample would be taken. They came back an hour later for the procedure and this time only the sample from the back of the throat was taken, It was not painful at all. I just had to open my mouth really wide, say "Aaaah..." and it was done in no time.

The food for sahur on day 8 of my quarantine was my favourite Nasi Lemak. As for the break fast meal, it came with a surprise this time: a Sudoku book. How thoughtful of them to provide us with some kind of activity to fill our free time. Sudoku was not my cup of tea though so the book remained untouched, like forever.

17th MAY 2020 [Quarantine Day 10]

The same mundane things had been repeated in the quarantine room - day in, day out. I just tried to make the best out of it and keep telling myself: this would soon be over, soon. In fact, there is nothing interesting to share from behins this locked door but I am thankful, up until now, my two daughters who are in the other two separate rooms, are still doing well and free from the evil COVID-19 virus. Still I pray hard for our test results to be negative. Four more days to go - FOUR! to our long awaited freedom.

19th MAY 2020 [Quarantine Day 12]

We actually had this Whatsapp Group created by the Ministry of Health specifically for our group which was quarantined in this hotel. Today, at 3.45 p.m. the happy news was posted in the group. based on the test done on the second sampling, everyone from this group was found to be NEGATIVE. Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah for keeping us safe and prostration of gratitude [Sujud Syukur] was spontaneously performed just for that. We were all so happy not only we could now go back home, but also we were all free from COVID-19.

And I would already be a free woman on Friday, 22nd of May.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART SEVEN

SPOT THE ERROR 131

Found in a mall.

ERROR #1: spelling of "OPENNING" - should be "OPENING"
ERROR #2: it is not correct to say "WE ARE OPENING".
It should be: "WE ARE OPEN".

Thanks Mr. Azhar Ahmad for the feed, all the way from Seremban.

THE DIARY OF A MALAYSIAN TRAVELLING HOME FROM ABROAD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC - PART FIVE

[CONTINUATION OF PART FOUR]

9th MAY 2020 [Quarantine Day 2]

The alarm went off at 5 a.m. to wake me up for my sahur [early morning meal efore dawn to prepare ourselves for fasting. It was "Nasi Dagang" and fish ball soup.

sahur food day 2

When I peeped through the view hole on the o in the afternoon, I saw something on the chair. When I took it inside, it was just actually a piece of garbage bag. It struck me that whatever rubbish that came out from our rooms was considered as clinical waste, hence it needed to be tied nicely and put outside before it was collected and disposed.

break fast food day 2

By 6.00 p.m., the meal for our break fast had already arrived on the chair outside the door. This time, a supply of home surveillance kit which consisted of a face mask, a small bottle of hand sanitizer and mouth wash, and also a temperature strip. We need to monitor our body temperature daily and report to the medical staff if we catch a fever.

10th MAY 2020 [QUARANTINE DAY 3]

sahur food day 3

Today I decided to do some light physical exercises so as to keep healthy and to strengthen the immune system - but just for a short period of time. At least I tried and still hoped there would be some positive outcome. Once in a while, I would look out of the window, just to see what was there outside. There were a lot of shopping malls around the Grand Millennium Hotel which is located in Bukit Bintang area. On one hand, in a normal situation, I would have done the real physical exercise by walking and doing window shopping. On the other hand, I managed to save a lot of money just by looking at them from my quarantine room. By this time, peeping through the view hole could be something that could bring joy to me as it was the only real contact with people in the real world as well as to see if there would be anything new left for me on the chair. How sad!

break fast food day 3

FAST FORWARD

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17th MAY 2020 [Quarantine Day 10]

The same mundane things had been repeated in the quarantine room - day in, day out. I just tried to make the best out of it and keep telling myself: this would soon be over, soon. In fact, there is nothing interesting to share from this locked door but I am thankful, up until now, my two daughters who are in the other two separate rooms, are still doing well and free from the evil COVID-19 virus. Four more days to go - FOUR! to our long awaited freedom.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART SIX ....

THE DIARY OF A MALAYSIAN TRAVELLING HOME FROM ABROAD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC - PART FOUR

[CONTINUATION OF PART THREE]

8th MAY 2020 [first day quarantine] I was extremely exhausted and sleepy, and right after the Subuh prayer, I just fell into a deep slumber. When I woke up in the afternoon the first thing I did was to check on my daughters.in their rooms nearby - via the telephone. The KKM [Health Ministry] staff on duty who were stationed at the hotel called us to find out whether we had any fever, cough or breathing difficulty. They also asked if we had any health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. Finally, I had to give the contact number of a close relative in any case of emergency.

My youngest daughter, Nurin, panicked a bit as this was her first time staying away from the parents. I had to guide her of things that needed to be done by sending photos on the smart phones. For example, I had to show her how to find the Qiblat [the direction pointing to Mecca for our prayer sessions] which could actually be found in the drawer. She then told me the water in the sink was filling up so I had to instruct her to pull the lever to let the water run down. As we had to wash our own clothes during the quarantine session, I had to teach her how to do that in the bathtub. They had to be independent for the next 14 days - which was in a way a blessing in disguise.

We were advised to keep our rooms clean. No visitors or housekeeping staff were allowed. Muslims who are fasting for Ramadhan get their meals twice for the break fast and "sahur", while those who are not fasting get three meals in a day. The food is put on the chairs outside the door so there is no human contact at all. The room occupants just get the food or any items left outside the door so there is definitely no time to linger and chat longer.

The food for the break fast session arrived at the door as early as at 6:00 p.m.

my first break fast meal

I personally feel that we are now staying in a luxurious room hotel BUT to be locked up behind the doors for 14 long days, this would not something I would fancy. Nevertheless, I am still thankful that we are provided with such comfortable facilities throughout the quarantine period. I am still praying that we are free from the COVID-19 virus and will get our freedom back soon. We just have to be patient, very patient and I keep telling myself and my daughters, 14 days is actually not that long.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FIVE ....

THE DIARY OF A MALAYSIAN TRAVELLING HOME FROM ABROAD DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC - PART THREE

[CONTINUATION OF PART TWO]

photo from the internet

7th MAY 2020:

8:30 p.m. We went out of the plane but were asked to keep the distance between one another and we proceeded to the aerotrain station. However, we were instructed to go down and get onto the buses that took us to the arrival terminal. In the shuttle bus, we had to stand on boxes "drawn" with binding tapes which would not allow us not to be too near to anyone else. 10:00 p.m. First we were scanned for our temperature at the immigration area to ensure we are not having fever. Next, there was another queue for us to fill in the Health Declaration Form [HDF]. The medical staff who were in their full PPE suits assessed our health condition before the swab test was carried out. There was this something similar to a cotton bud but much longer inserted deep into first, a person's nose and second, deeper into the throat, to get the sample. Small kids could be heard screaming and crying while the process was in progress, and that increased our anxiety level. 11:30 p.m. Then our turn arrived. The swab test was done just in a short time. It was a bit uncomfortable but not painful. We then adjourned to the immigration counter to get our passports checked. After getting our luggage, then we had to wait again for the turn to get onto the bus that would ferry us to the quarantine centre. Outside the arrival hall, all the passengers' bags and luggage were arranged and the staff sprayed disinfection liquid on them and then only they were put in the bus. We had our hands sanitized and were allowed to get on board, and we were in the last bus. Packets containing a boxed drinks, a bottle of mineral water, a soft bun and mango jelly were distributed. There were only 15 people on the bus and social distancing was again observed as one passenger occupied two seats. I was already tired and starving and I finished the bun there and then.

8th MAY 2020:

1:22 a.m. All the four buses, which belonged to the PDRM - the Royal Malaysian Police left the KLIA terminal building and were escorted by police patrol bikes to an unknown location. I could identify the route would take us to Kuala Lumpur city centre. 2:10 a.m. The bus stopped in front of Grand Millennium Hotel. The surrounding was too dark and I could not only see there was a Fahrenheit Mall opposite. Our luggage was unloaded from the bus and we alighted and queued up again for our room keys. My two daughters would be separated from me though in different rooms but their rooms were just beside mine so it was a relief. We had too many things to carry to our rooms and would need a trolley. The JPAM [Civil Defence Force] officers were kind enough to help us get one. 3:00 a.m. Our rooms were on the 18th floor. Once our belongings were put inside the room, I had to return the trolley downstairs. I needed to clean myself and performed my prayers, and called my kids with the hotel's room-to-room line and asked them to do the same. 5:00 a.m. It was already sahur (morning meal) time and I asked my children to just eat and drink the sandwich and water that were given before we entered our rooms. I tried to peek out of the room to see if there was anything prepared for us and to my surprise, food was already put on the chair outside. We were lucky to get to eat Nasi Lemak that morning before we started fasting in less than an hour. After all the long hours of waiting and queuing, I was grateful I could lie on the bed and get some rest.

That should be the longest and most exhaustive travelling home experience for us, ever. I noticed no one complaining throughout the process and remember, this was in the month of Ramadhan when Muslims were fasting so we were extra tired, hungry and thirsty. In fact, everyone was really cooperative and patient, and that should ease the staff and officers on duty and everything went very smoothly. I guess everyone already understood what was going on and each person had done his/her very best to ensure that we could get through all this without any difficulties.

How the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything. Let's pray this pandemic will end soon so that we will get to live our normal lives again.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR