Two thirds of the way through the year already... Hard to believe. Given that our lives at the moment are so low key they're barely audible, I'm constantly surprised at how fast the time goes by.

August has been another terrible, terrible month on the covid front. National deaths up until yesterday (30 August) stood at 16,382. When I was writing my review of July, the equivalent figure was 8,859... That's a shocking increase in such a short time.

Here in the southern part of Sarawak, we're still locked into our districts, under Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan. Dine-in, which was allowed for a little while, has been banned again, and we're back on a 5am-to-10pm curfew, so our early-morning walks (still unrestricted, thank goodness) happen a tad later than they used to. 


The highlight of the month was our second vaccination. It was still a highlight, even though the jab seems a lot less potent than we were anticipating when we were anxiously awaiting it all those months ago.

Delta is ripping round Kuching, despite high levels of vaccination. People are not getting so sick, and that's very good, of course. But they're still getting covid. In fact, they're still getting covid in droves... And so they're still being hauled off to those internment camps that populate my nightmares. 


Nevertheless, as I said, the second jab was very welcome, not least because it permits us to start planning a trip to see family in the UK.

This is really not going to be easy. Before we can get away, we have to go through a series of steps, any one of which could result in a red light.

Once we're off, I think the chances of surviving two flights and three airports without getting covid are pretty minimal.

And, ironically, we could well end up in a situation where Sarawak starts to improve, post-Delta, while the UK starts to deteriorate still further with the onset of the winter. We have not been lucky with lockdowns so far, it has to be said. It would be frustrating to be unlucky again.


Even bearing all this in mind, though, it is a relief to at last be in a position to cobble together a travel plan.

In the course of our deliberations, I don't know how often I've caught myself saying: "In a few months' time, surely things will have started to improve..."

As things stand at the moment, when we get to the UK, our vaccinated status won't be recognized. And as things stand at the moment, there's no guarantee we'll get back into Sarawak once we're ready to come home... So I'm hoping things will start to loosen up at some point a little further down the track.

I don't know why I'm so utterly incorrigible. Surely I should have learnt by now. Things have been getting worse and worse for a really long time, and the quality of that "worse" is always way beyond anything most people had predicted, including me. And yet, there I go: "Surely things will start to improve..."

We'll see. 


Meanwhile, we're still in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is traditionally regarded by the Chinese community as the Ghost Month. Paper vaccines and syringes have apparently become popular prayer offering items in some parts of Malaysia this year...


There's been a PT post every Friday this month, mostly about walking, eating, and monitoring developments.

My other pursuits eventually make their way into Velvet Cushion posts, of which there have been eight, to wit: another entry in the language log, on comprehensible input in Spanish, Russian, and Chinese; two screen posts, on crime and family challenges; two history posts (Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil; and The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company); two posts on fictional works (Solange Speaks to You; and The Truth); and a now-rare travel news round-up.

August has even seen the emergence of a Vintage Travel post, reflecting on a Cook Islands trip that happened 19 years ago.

Today is Merdeka Day, the commemoration of the Malayan Declaration of Independence in 1957. It's not really East Malaysia's celebration. We had Sarawak Day last month. And Malaysia Day, in a couple of weeks, marks the anniversary of the formation of the Malaysian Federation.

But still, the flags are up, and it's a public holiday here too. So I'll leave you with this heart-warming Malaysian story. If only there were more people like this family...