Things seem to start going back to normal. Thanks to the ongoing vaccination program, COVID-19 cases have significantly gone down, at least what the government statistics say. (But hey, props to them. Give credit to whom credit is due.) So in the past weeks we’ve been seeing traffic volume building up—not that we’re happy about it. Businesses are opening again one after the other. And people flock to the malls once more. Us included.
Two weeks after Marcus finally got his second COVID-19 vaccine we packed ourselves in the car and headed to the destination we once frequent before the pandemic hit. With a wee bit of anxiety, we set foot on Festival Mall’s ground, almost two years after. All three of us in the mall just like the good old days.
The mall no longer requires contact tracing forms to be completed upon entry but restaurants maintain their own policy for precautions. Yellow Cab for one allows only fully vaccinated customers to dine in— the cashier did check our vaccination cards. Activities inside the mall are close to pre-pandemic days with difference of masked mall rats and the ubiquitous social distancing signages. We agree it’s an inconvenience but this is the new norm so let’s deal with it.
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What makes yesterday more special? Taylor Swift’s birthday! Among the things we did in common at home during the quarantine period—and continues to this day—is karaoke with Marcus on weekends. Early days during start of social distancing and isolation Marcus grew fond of singing and big chunk of his repertoire are Taylor’s songs—then some BTS and couple of rock, to indulge wifey and me, respectively. He’s still working on the tunes but it’s been fun all the time. I even learned—or forced myself—to dance while he sings. Good way to burn midnight snack.
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Except for Saturday, two days this long weekend we skipped the karaoke. Sunday was finale of the F1 2021 season where we saw ourselves screaming especially when Max Verstappen stopped the championship streak of Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the Abu Dhabi race. It’s been a long while since F1 was this exciting. Actually both drivers deserve the title but this time we were rooting for Max who is now the first ever Dutch F1 driver champion.
Then last night, coming from the mall and powdered by Starbucks Americano I found myself glued watching Taylor Swift’s Fearless video on Blu Ray. Interestingly, we realized that Blu Ray is a technology that is no longer supported even by major appliances stores but thankfully Xbox still plays it.
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Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Cold kettlebell workout)
Marcus Can Blog 