will i am's delayed diary

With the Movement Control Order enforced, one can't go out searching for good food, but it does't mean that good food can't come to us. SK found a Malay caterer from Shah Alam who was willing to deliver to our area. However, the delivery charges cost nearly as much as the food. Even so, it was worth it. Good nasi dagang , and sambal sotong , but the I can't the say the same about the nasi kerabu . SK also managed to get a slice of burnt cheesecake from the famous Say Cheese Cafe at Jalil Link. But can you imagine how difficult it is to fully enjoy something so rich after a heavy meal of Malay carbs? And for dinner, it was the continuation of the theme... Sis made nasi lemak with with Hainanese steamed chicken roll. Quite a combination, huh? Talk about a caloric surplus!

This pair of Under Armour meggings was supposed to be delivered on the 18th of March. Right at the start of the MCO. The delivery guy gave me a call and asked whether it was possible for them to deliver. The delivery address was my office, so it was a big NO. My package ended up sitting at their distribution office for nearly a month. The backlog must have been immense when they finally called me for a delivery redirection. Quite a nice pair of meggings right? Do I look like someone who needs such fitness gear? Hehe.

Eighteen days into the MCO, mum suddenly remembered about her quarterly gynaecology follow-up at Bandar Puteri Puchong. I quickly called up the clinic, and they sent me a doctor's letter via What's App. And luckily, her appointment card was scribbled with the exact date-- the 4th of April. During those early stages, police roadblocks were all over the place, and vehicles should not have passengers. But we had a good justification when we were stopped below the BK5 LRT station. The policeman gave my What's App letter a cursory glance, but decided to scrutinize the appointment card instead. He waved us through a couple of minutes later. At the clinic, it was business as usual, just that the nurses wore face shields over surgical masks. You Noodles House which was our usual breakfast spot every time we visited the area was not open. Anyway, it was a little exciting to be able to get out of the house, although it was just to visit the doctor's office. 

Many hidden cooks and bakers were born during the MCO period. Eating out had been removed from the equation, so people had begun to re-enter the kitchen, willingly or unwillingly. From BIL's Unit Tindak Kinrara (UTK) network, we often had home-cooked goodies on a daily basis. Someone would could bakzhang on Saturday, and it would be distributed to the other households. On the next day, it might be dongpo meat, charsiew , chiffon cake, or egg tarts. People would take turns showing off their culinary skills. Mum had contributed deep-friend niangao , while BIL whipped up his mother's chicken rice recipe. It was really fun getting a surprise dish nearly every day. 

During the MCO, my sister and BIL's  factory was closed down. Both of them were camped at home. Although they couldn't run their usual production line, it didn't mean that their hands were idle. Through my BIL's contacts in Unit Tindak Kinrara (UTK), he volunteered to produce face shields for Hospital Serdang. The government hospital was desperate for supplies because supply from overseas was disrupted and their stock was running low. The face shield was easy to assemble. All that was needed was clear plastic sheets, strips of foam, glue, and elastic bands. Even my mother joined in when she wasn't busy cooking. Unfortunately, I was too pre-occupied with work. In just a week, they churned out a couple thousand face shields. 

On the 16th of June, Muhyiddin Y. declared that Malaysia would undergo a Movement Control Order (MCO) starting on the 18th of June March. The purpose of the partial lock down was to flatten the Covid-19 infection curve. In response to that, my company directed that all staff would be working from home. Hardly a few days before, my office in Petaling Jaya had scheduled a round of disinfection because a colleague was related to a someone in the Patient 26 cluster. Later it was revealed that no local transmission took place. Working from home quite refreshing experience. Things were pretty normal for me because my development source code is on AWS CodeCommit anyway, and we use Microsoft Teams to collaborate. Everything was online. Could sleep more, have a leisurely breakfast, and then start work in skimpy lounge shorts. The second half or the day would be spent at my sister's place because that's where mum cooks lunch and dinner. During the early stages, people went into a cookin