This has been a very strange month... The covid situation in Sarawak seems at last to be improving, although our death toll has worsened. Nationally, as of yesterday, the death toll stood at 28,876. That's a sad rise on last month's 26,143, but it's a figure that denotes a much less dramatic increase than we'd been seeing in the previous couple of months.

Many restrictions were removed over the course of October (first we could do "tourism", then we could travel inter-district, then inter-state travel was back on).



So we took advantage of all that to the max, with a number of little trips (start here, and work your way forward). But for the last few weeks we've again been in low-key mode, to give ourselves the best chance of passing our pre-flight covid tests.



Travel preparations have mopped up a surprising amount of time this month. Reading insurance policies (the lines, between the lines, behind the lines...) took up many hours last weekend. And we're ever on the lookout for regulatory changes that might affect us.

As things stand at the moment, there's no clear route back home to Sarawak, but we're hoping that by the time we're due to return, the borders will be open, and we'll be spared all the messing about of last year.



We've had a few strokes of luck. We've managed to avoid that long layover in Singapore that I mentioned last month; the Malaysian government has amended the format of our vaccination certificates so that they comply with what the British want; and the Day 2 covid tests we have to do in the UK are now cheaper.

Plus, our family in the UK, where we're heading first, have done a really heroic job of strategizing for the voluntary isolation period we're going to do when we get there, and stocking up the cupboards with what sounds like a really yummy bunch of treats.

We're still not planning beyond Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Man (the Terns' respective points of origin). That takes us through to mid-March. Beyond which point, we're still waiting and seeing, just as I wrote at last month's end.

The covid situation in the UK is not encouraging, it has to be said (the Malaysian health minister to the public here: "Don't be the UK. Just mask up"). But we always anticipated a low-key stay, and we're looking forward to it all the same. We can see family. We can drive places (assuming we're not back in a fuel crisis). We can walk places. We can eat cheese. And bacon. We can drink whisky without worrying that the label might be misleading people. It'll be good!



Anyway, back to the month that ends today, which was also notable for an anniversary: 10 years of being based in Southeast Asia.

Purple Tern has had its busiest month all year, with a whacking 15 posts. It wasn't only the flurry of little trips (which, being so unwonted, all got a post to themselves). It was also the fact that being released from purdah makes you see your immediate locality with less jaded eyes, inspiring several heritage stories.

Nothing on Vintage Travel this month. But the Velvet Cushion has seen seven new offerings. Three are movie-based (on Francois Ozon, marginalized voices, and turning-points in individual lives); three focus on books (Black Water Sister, Hotel Shanghai, and Remembering Shanghai); and one looks at language apps.



It's 31st October. Which means that for many folks it's Hallowe'en. Cue Maria Popova, who, I'm so glad to hear, has changed the name of her blog to The Marginalian, and from whom I learnt way more than I possibly needed to know about the origins of the flying witch's broomstick...

But for us Manx, 31st October is Hop-tu-Naa. I wrote about it back here, but this serves as a quick primer. Basically, Hop-tu-Naa marks the end of the Celtic year. In Celtic thinking, days start with evening, and years start with winter. So 1 November, the first day of Celtic winter, is the first day of the year.

Always the symbolist, I'll hold on to the idea that dark times are nevertheless new times, and will make way, in due course, to lighter times and better times.

May it be.