Wishing for bad weather?

Staying in a nice hotel for two weeks sounds like a holiday, right? But when you can’t leave your room, it gets old – and very small – very quickly.

That’s what happened when I relocated to Singapore earlier this year. I was faced with a hotel quarantine, dubbed “Stay Home Notice” (SHN). But be assured: “home” is different. I wrote a blog about that experience, Five Days of the Condo. That was seven months ago.

I left Singapore in June to tend to some in-person meetings in Zurich. I had hoped that by the time I got back to Singapore, the pandemic situation would have normalized somewhat.

Wishful thinking.

I am informed that I have to serve another 14-days SHN upon arrival in Singapore. A small concession in my favor: instead of serving the SHN in an allotted hotel room (if you are lucky, one with a view), I am allowed to spend this “Stay Home Notice” in my actual home – my very own apartment.

Of course, they don’t want me to get too comfortable. To ensure compliance, an electronic monitor is strapped to my wrist. If I leave my apartment, it will alarm the authorities. Just writing this, I feel a little sorry for myself. But I certainly like the situation right now much better than when I was stuck in a hotel room with no kitchen, no refrigerator, no table or chairs, and no fresh food.

Being confined to your own apartment, you could pick worse cities than Singapore. I can have almost anything delivered to my doorstep, sometimes in a matter of minutes. Three days ago, I clicked the “order now” button on my phone and waited with a growling stomach. And a mere 19 minutes later, my Rougamo, a “Chinese hamburger”, was dropped off in front of my door.

Ever entrepreneurial, the Singaporeans have even founded new businesses here to cater to the needs of the confined. You can rent videogame consoles, extra fridges, workout equipment and super big TV screens!

But not being able to just go outside for a walk, to free your mind, is surprisingly hard. In Zurich, I would take walks every day – unless the weather was really bad. When my dog still lived, “bad weather” only applied to hail storms or winds that would have blown my pooch off the path. Sans dog, I usually skip the walk if the rain is more than a drizzle.

Singapore weather can be mischievous. Not in regard to freezing temperatures, obviously (here, anything below 25°C is classified as “sweater weather” and will make newspaper headlines). No, I’m talking about the sheer amount of water that pours down in a really short period of time. If you try crossing the street during one of these showers, even with an umbrella, you end up just as wet as if you’d jumped into a pool with your clothes on.

This September, however, has been one of the drier months in Singapore, with lots of clear skies and sunshine. Sitting inside and counting the days, I wonder if it would make me feel better if there was a snow storm coming down here right now? Probably yes.

One thing I do know. My next holiday is definitely not going to be of the stay-in-a-nice-hotel kind.