Day 13: Up Te Ahumairangi Hill

Lazy day today, woke up late and spent most of it playing Switch and watching movies and TV shows. The highlight for me was my daily walk. Today I decided to go up the Te Ahumairangi Hill. The hill has always been so accessible from my place, but I just never took time to go there. It took more than a year and a lockdown for me to make this trek.

The hill is visible from our kitchen window:

The start of the trek from Sefton St.

View at midway point:

Strategically located bench:

The bay is always a beautiful sight:

On top of the hill:

View from the top:

Day 12: Workshop and 'switching off'

The workshop happened and it was a good experience! As a facilitator, I am quite happy with the session and I think it was a success. But the true outcome of the workshop won't be known until we have future engagements for the project. The workshop objective was to gather people that might be interested in our EEW project. A total of 28 people (including facilitators and project team members) participated in this virtual workshop.

The workshop happened in the morning, and I did a bit more work in the afternoon sending a few emails. I started to switch off from work with my daily stroll. I spent the rest of the night playing my Nintendo Switch. Playing the Switch has now become my past time off work!

Looking forward to the weekend. Not yet sure what I'll do, but will not spend the entire time playing video games. I'll have to do laundry at some point for sure.

Happy weekend everyone!

Oh... our article on coping with COVID19 got published with the Spinoff.

Day 11: Prepping for the workshop

Tomorrow’s workshop is not what we intended it to be when we started planning for it in January. We wanted it to be a face-to-face workshop bringing different people with various backgrounds together from different institutions from all over New Zealand. It would have been a half day workshop with coffee and lunch, and breakout sessions where we can set-up worksheets and response forms creatively. Little did we know that the nature workshop would change drastically because of the forthcoming, then unknown, events.

We decided to push through with this initial workshop, at the very least bringing people together to talk about earthquake early warning system. We won’t have the intended social interactions, but we will make the most out of the situation. I am quite excited to see what tomorrow’s turnout will be like. Wish us the best.

I spent most of today prepping for the workshop.

But I also got to catchup with my PhD friends in Uni. We are all in the COVID19 situation together, but each of us face different challenges. Kia kaha, everyone.

Day 10: Supermarket Day

Today was the first time I left the neighbourhood and went to the supermarket since the lockdown. It was a strange experience!

I wore a mask, but not a lot of others did. I kept the mask on anyway, I think it's best to be precautious. The supermarket wasn't crowded but we had to queue to get into the store. The wait wasn't too long, just around 15 minutes. Since they are limiting the number of people in the supermarket, it didn't feel crowded at all.

New things I noticed:

• A squirt of hand-sanitizer is provided before entering the store
• The handlebars of the trolleys are sanitized
• The staff member gave a few instructions. First, they reminded us to keep distance between each other. Second, advised wiping the products when we get home.
• The narrower aisles were one-way traffic only
• Markers on the floor on the way to the till to remind customers to keep distance.
• We have to pack our own bags
• Another squirt of hand-sanitizer provided after checking-out
• I think the price of goods is higher (but I have no concrete proof of this).

All in all, it was a pleasant but strange experience.

Day Nine: A Normal Day

I guess today is a sign that I am adjusting to the quarantine situation. Today felt really normal. I was able to sit down and work for a few hours (albeit still a bit distracted). But it no longer felt so weird.

I also went out for my daily stroll, I passed by a lookout over the Hutt Road. Saw our dojo from afar (the yellow building in the photo). One of the things I definitely miss is practising aikido. Hopefully, we all can get back on the mat after the lockdown.

Day eight: Stuffed bear hunt

Quite tired today, despite it not being so eventful nor productive. I think just the constant downpour of information and online socializing is a bit draining.

The highlight of my day was going for a walk. New Zealand decided to help kids and communities during the lockdown by displaying stuffed bears on their window sills, fences, or mailboxes! So cute and heartwarming! I took some photos during my walk. Spot the stuffed toys!

Day Seven: Pananagutan

A recessional hymn during a mass celebrated in the Philippines:

Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang
Walang sinuman and namamatay para sa sarili lamang
Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa't isa
Tayong lahat ay tinipon ng Diyos na kapiling nya

Translation (thanks Google Translate!):

No one lives for himself alone
No one is dying for himself
We are all responsible for one another
We are all gathered by God in his company

I usually start my Sundays by going to mass at St. Mary of the Angels. But as with the lockdown, I can't attend mass. I started a new Sunday routine: I celebrate with Martha, my sister, as we listen to a live mass broadcast from a church in the Philippines. I can watch a live stream by myself, but it feels a lot more whole knowing that someone else is celebrating with me. I pray for courage and protection for the frontliners, wisdom for our leaders, and health and safety for family and friends.