We'll start with the inevitable covid notes... Here in Sarawak, numbers continue to trend down, as does the positivity rate from tests. Our R-rate is below 1.

But (there's always a but with covid...), hospitalizations have gone up by 16% in the past week. And sadly, the state is now second-worst in the deaths-per-million-people chart (57, as opposed to a national average of 24...)

Nationally, the covid death total had yesterday reached a sobering 28,234. And the R-rate has gone above 1 in a couple of states in West Malaysia... As Between the Lines wonders today: "Did we lift the interstate travel ban and other restrictions too soon, are we not being careful enough, or is this simply the up and down reality of living with Covid-19?"

Meanwhile, the first two destinations on our travel list are not exactly pumping out good news. Recent days have seen warnings that Singapore's health system could be "overwhelmed", and UK cases could hit 100,000 a day.

This is so not over...

In preparation for travel, we're still hunkering down, and trying to keep on top of all the imposed modifications of our travel plans. Flights change, regulations change, and you're constantly scanning your inbox for updates. The well-known weasel qualities of insurance companies are also wildly evident. This stage is all a little stressful, to be honest.

However, we still get out and about, in an isolated kind of way. This week we celebrated 10 years in Southeast Asia, followed up some more heritage stories, and still had a few pics left over for the gallery: