| | | Lazarus, Good to know that you are good. Been pinging Dr Voodoo w/ no effect. I hope he is good but busy in some good way. Cyber neighborhood cafe is no different from same in real world. We are not exactly “Cheers” here but the thread name does not describe 100% what we are about, I trust.
Report:
(1) I am unsure how I feel but we have made arrangement for mid-July onward travel, having been accidental-tourists here in Cape Town since our arrival 1st March, lockdown 27th March, and loosening of lockdown 1st June. We shall first leg do journey to ... drumroll ... Amsterdam ... and then to engage with 2nd-leg flight to any of several third-country cities depending, quarantine for 15 days at location of choice, and then 3rd-leg to HK, in time for the kids start of school after another 15 days of home-quarantine. Nuts. 30-days arrest / incarceration.
A few unknowns, as flights are not commercial, but privately arranged repatriation flights. There are magical people in the cloud who gather enough names and charter regulars airline flights. The tickets are bought directly from whichever airlines, and the trip is so stitched together.
Also part of the tapestry are rental residences (luckily we know folks in various cities w/ airBnB properties but no guests), exit papers, transit forms, ... and have no clue why, but have original birth certificates of the kids as they are necessary for passage on these flights.
The gathering place for the 1st leg is not the Cape Town International Airport, but a sports stadium.
Irrespective of ticket class, no hot meals would be served, and earlier groups reported that the eateries at Cape Town / Johannesburg airports are all closed except for MacDonald’s, and the pricing of burgers / fries reflect supply and demand. There would be bottled water available on the flights. Including transit, our end-to-end journey would take 40+ hours.
A lot can happen to make the journey not happen.
(2) Shall miss our new friends here.
The ballet instructor and her two cats has been staying with us over the past week.
The family w/ another dance student has been paying us daily visit.
The group we hang out w/ on the weekend walks are super.
A lady who has been kind to us has been driving my wife on grocery shopping twice weekly since end-March. My wife has been instructing the two kids of the lady in piano and French.
The Chinese grocery shop owner has been extra kind w/ deliveries that takes 30-40 minutes. My wife helped him w/ some language work for some of his notices to the public.
Etc etc
(3) Jack wants to get back to HK and be w/ his old friends even as he has adapted to new routine here w/ two new friends. Jack is polishing up on writing and handwriting, and started karate together with another summer student of his age, a Ms Silke. At 9 he still is oblivious to Ms Silke. Oh well. He does take walks through the mountains and along the river nearby w/ Ms Jemimah, his Dutch teacher, her daughter Ciara, and Ms Silke. The dog Domino also tags along. Jack tells me there is a waterfall along the way.
(4) The Coconut has been busy, preparing ahead for the coming school year. She swapped out of her original honors environmental studies for honors physics. Good.
She is also enthusiastic for the 2021 coming of Asimov’s “Foundation” series on AppleTV. Good.
(5) I have been busy, fighting fires, and struggling w/ e-mails, reading macro, watching documentaries and docu-drama, and washing dishes. Oh, and walking the Jack to school on Mon / Wed / Fri.
I am glad I am with my family, and that I had friends to Zoom w/ whether for fighting fires or share a drink over same Zoom. Thank goodness for Zoom.
Now my iPad and iPhone is all trimmed with Skype, Zoom, Team, Meet, FaceTime, etc etc.
(6) In-laws in Penang are good, been calling to follow their only grandkids. Eager to return to HK late August to face-to-face.
(7) Mom (89) reported yesterday that her third book shall be published by one of the oldest publishers on the planet, in UK, and that the editor should be done w/i 6 months. She shall start on her fourth book.
So, all considered, 2020 has been quite unforgettable, so far, and the accidental journey not yet complete.
(8) Am very curious how 2021 might top 2020.
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