It's amazing how time flies, doesn't it? Last year, this time, we were all so looking forward to the year we grew up looking forward to: the year 2020. The year of Wawasan 2020 which we learnt when we were in school. The year we visualised to be everything like science fiction. How funny it has turned out to be.
End of year 2019, some day nearing the end of December, I was having breakfast at Marsiling market before doing a visual inspection. It was that day, in CNA, that I first read a news report about some mysterious pneumonia that had emerged in Wuhan. I didn't really bother about it at that point because new viruses kept emerging, and the last full-blown virus epidemic didn't turn out to be as scary as it was first reported. Okay, to be fair, Zika was horrific for pregnant ladies, but it otherwise was fine. I lived through H1N1. A(H1N1) was also treated with extreme fear, reported to be a fusion of three flu viruses and people were scared shit. Few years down the road, it was reported H1N1 infected about 25-50% of the world's population and people have since stopped giving so much care about it. I thought it would be the same for whatever new virus that was being investigated. To be fair, I also thought it might just be some existing virus which they might not be able to identify yet. It probably wouldn't be nothing, or so I thought.
Then, it was reported it was a brand new virus with seemingly crippling effects. It hadn't reached Malaysia or Singapore's shores, so during CNY, travelling back to home was still expected. And so I did. Only when we reached the Tuas custom, we learnt that Singapore had since recorded the very first case on its soil.
CNY went through relatively quietly. Then I travelled back to Singapore.
One month down the road, in March, apparently, the situation in Malaysia spiralled out of control. Malaysia imposed a lockdown. Singapore followed suit when the cases in the dormitories balloooned.
And now, the first day of 2021, still no end in sight. The virus is still spreading. We all thought it would have ended end of 2020, but as it turns out we're still so far from it.
Well, news about vaccines have emerged and vaccines have begun being distributed. It's a silver lining, but the road to recovery seems uncomfortably long.
I crave for the pre-covid normality. What we have now is survival. It couldn't last. Fatigue has set in for many people, and this cannot continue anymore. The people are getting tired.
So, here's to 2021, hoping that covid-19 would cease to become relevant.
Happy New Year everyone. May 2021 be a better year than 2020.
So, 2020 is coming to an end. I know, the year Wawasan 2020 was all about. The hype around it - we basically envisaged it as a modern, high-tech, incredibly advanced Malaysia with flying cars, skyscrapers and those dorms you see in science fictions. Quite funny, isn't it, that our country has headed in an entirely wrong direction. We thought we saw a glimmer of hope when BN was ousted in 2018, but then PH collapsed and our country's political landscape got altered altogether and has gone down into the unknown. All political coalitions in Malaysia are deeply fractured - the Malays are very divided.
Anyway, let's see what's next - oh, Covid-19 struck. It got full-blown in March, and successive lockdowns began worldwide. I went back to Penang for CNY, and came back to Singapore with trepidations, and a month down the road we entered Circuit Breaker (CB), a fanciful term invented by the minister who is an electrical engineer to mean 'lockdown' without, however sweetly, trying to create chaos and panic. Try as he had, panic did ensue. Instant noodles were gold and snatched clean. Till today I've no freaking idea why the hell people stock toilet papers. All canned food were swept clean as well, but this is rather understandable. Snacks were taken. The absurd part was the fight for sanitisers. Some people got so desperate they even hoard alcohol swabs meant for injections and some diabetic patients couldn't get their insulin shots because they didn't have the swab - selfish bunch of people. During a crisis it's clear, the people's priority has always been self-survival. Collective action my ass. Look at the people trying to rip people's off by selling masks at a cut-throat price. Ya, masks were ridiculously expensive, could cost ten times what it cost now.
Okay, I'll probably wrap this year up on Thursday. Well, I've got to work tomorrow, and I'm working half day on Thursday, and on Friday we will be welcoming a next year. For the better or worse, we don't know, but what's life without some suspense ei?
Here's a picture of the Marina Bay Sands, taken on Christmas night, which was incredibly cheerful and ceremonious in Singapore. Normality has pretty much returned and life is inching back to pre-covid level, although some scars and alterations may have become permanent. Still, life goes on.
Recently, my life has been a little monotonous, nothing exciting has happened much.
A show which is greatly influential to me has ended. Supernatural has concluded its series after a long 15 years. I do feel kinda hollow as a result but I've got to admit, this show has come to its timely end. I would have loved to see more of Jack though. The introduction of a son to the series really changes its entire recipe.
Work has been fun, but recently for me it has got a bit slow. I've cleared most of my outstanding work, currently awaiting for some missing information, so, to be honest, I don't have much going on right now.
Inspections at hospitals prove to be a tedious task, mostly because the rooms to be inspected are often occupied and because they are emergency wards, there just isn't any telling when are they discharged or when new patients will be admitted so it proves an uphill task to gain access despite needing only 10 minutes max.
Otherwise, I've visited covid-19 wards, and to be honest it doesn't look very scary.
It has been rainy these few days, shifting from late mornings to late evenings, which is disruptive of all my outdoor plans. It's now year-end, and with covid-19 still raging, it means travelling outside the country is not possible, which means I couldn't get home. Consequently, I still have a pile of annual leaves to clear. But with rainy days, there isn't much I can do with my leaves.
Well, I'm monitoring my food intake, because I'm leading a much more sedentary lifestyle now and gaining weight becomes so much easier than I would have imagined. Sometimes, I sit through the time between my lunch and dinner with nary a movement. It's disturbing for me - sometimes I dream about quitting and getting a more active job. Office work could be boring sometimes and, obviously, unhealthy.
Well, that's all I guess. Nothing much has happened, due to covid-19. Covid-19 has temporarily halted many events and it sucks, but I guess in life we need a pause sometimes.
You know, I've watched Supernatural ever since it first aired in 2005. On a Sunday night, when I was very young - 11 years old. I was an 11-year-old boy, still in primary school, hadn't hit puberty probably!
I remember the first season was very creepy. It displayed much darker tone and was very folk-lore based. Local legends, curses and the sort. I still remember my sister and I compared it to Charmed. The former was about 3 sisters who are witches; the latter on two brothers who are mortal but up against supernatural enemies. The former had The Book of Shadows, the latter had their father's diary that functions similarly. The former had an ultimate evil - The Source; the latter had also an ultimate evil - Yellow-eyed demon.
Boy, what a ride it has been since the first season. I remember I was so hooked on, I even looked for it in the market!
Then, there came many more seasons, with season 5 being the peak. Castiel came into the picture in season 4, and admittedly the show was never the same then - it became more epic, more adventurous and to be very honest, much more interesting. I remember watching Lucifer rising at the end of season 4, and couldn't wait to watch season 5. That was in 2010! 10 freaking years ago! Can you imagine that? There was no internet yet in my house in 2010!
I remember season 5 was full of adrenaline - the entire season was just mind-blowing. After the season ended, admittedly I didn't feel like continuing watching anymore. When the main story arc completes, what follows usually sound hollow as they often would feel...stretched. My sister stopped watching after season 5. I went for a pause momentarily, but after my SPM I resumed watching - beginning from season 6.
Season 6 was....boring, admittedly. I couldn't remember much from season 6, except I know I hate it when Castiel became the antagonist. It just sounded stupid and like I said, stretched.
Oddly, I found season 7 interesting. The popular opinion was that season 7 was a poorly produced season with filler episodes. I didn't remember it so, maybe because I watched it after my SPM and was on a long break? There wasn't a lot of Castiel in this season, sadly.
Then there came season 8. My god, I remembered season 8 as interesting but I couldn't recall much, probably because it had been 7 years ago. It had got to mean only one thing: it was interesting but not memorable - so, just decent. Tablets, prophets, not so much of my liking. But as a Supernatural fan, I finished it. I didn't like the ending. Angels and their civil wars, don't sound great to me.
I remember season 9 as ridiculous. Angel residing in Sam without his knowledge. Wizard of Oz? Dean talking to dog? Geez. Same as season 10, I just couldn't remember much, except the ending - my god. When I read online that Dean killed Death, I just had to watch on YouTube the clips. This is on 2015 - when I was in university, second year. I remembered watching Dean unleashed the Darkness, and the wave of black smoke engulfing the Impala. That was an epic ending - and something primordial, evil finally was released. I remember that was the time I was thinking: the old-style Supernatural is back! That's enough crap of angel civil wars. Civil wars are boring.
So I waited, and waited, and season 11 went to air. I think we all could agree, season 11 was the season Supernatural came back on its feet. Amara was the evil enemy we have all wanted to see in Supernatural. Like I said, civil wars are stupid, boring - we needed new enemies, something that sends shivers down to the spine just by thinking about it, not some stupid brotherly fight or hatred between heaven and hell. Amara was interesting, I like her. And till today, season 11 was an all time favourite.
Season 12 got a bit bad I guess. London's Chapter Men of Letters? I never really like the concept of Men of Letters but I would agree the bunker was a great introduction to the Winchesters. Lucifer knocking up a lady? A son? I was thinking, geez, season 12 was also full of crap. Parallel universe? Again, I was in university, third year. My excitement faded rather quickly. At that moment, Jack wasn't something I conceived as a favourable character. Then I realised Jack would be a main character, a sharp change in Supernatural - for so many years, its main casts have always been the brothers and Castiel.
But boy, season 13 proved me wrong. I liked Jack! Alexander Calvert really proved to be a great actor in portraying a newly born boy in a supposedly 13-year-old boy. His innocence, naivety, and childish acts really bring out the fatherly figure in Dean, Sam and Castiel. Supernatural has changed - after 13 years, the brothers have got a son!
To be very honest, I've not completely finished season 14 and season 15. But knowing a show I grew up watching has ended, it hurts a lot. I started watching this show as a 11-year-old boy, now I'm a 26-year-old working adult. For 15 years, this show has been an intricate part of me - it's my source of entertainment. Because of Supernatural, I guess it's why I'm so into thriller and mystery genres. Some episodes bring me back to the days I watched them - they could bring out memories I forgot exist. I watched the two brothers fighting over their father, John, to fighting over becoming a father to Jack. It's just - for 15 years, it's a lot of memories, a lot of feelings.
I've never done anything so long - 15 years I've watched this show. It has ended. A part of me felt....hollow. Empty.
15 years of memory compressed into a two-minute montage, the emotion was overpowering and overwhelming. The show did justice to Dean and Sam, but it would have been great if Castiel and Jack were featured as well. They were a part of the family too, Castiel's last moment was a bad one. Jack was raised by the Winchesters but though he has a great ending, the producers could have featured him for a few minutes in the finale. Why can't just show the four of them reunited in Heaven?
I miss Supernatural. I'll forever remember this show. No other show could possibly have replaced its position in my heart. Many shows have lasted as long, or probably longer, but none of them is anything like Supernatural. Supernatural is about family - the brothers, the Winchesters and Castiel and Jack. For 15 years the story has consistently centred around them. Other shows have characters that come and go. Supernatural has the same one throughout, with only minor characters come and go but those are not the central core. It's why it's different. Even though it is fictitious, Supernatural's bond is authentic, and I'll forever Supernatural as a show I grew up watching, indulging and shaping me to who I am today.
Thank you, Supernatural. From one of your greatest fan, in Singapore currently.
Supernatural is ending after 15 years. 15 super long years. Three times more than original intended.
I first watched Supernatural at night, on a Sunday at 10pm in 2005. Since then I was hooked and every year I watch Supernatural with my adrenaline always annoyingly fully pumped. Barring the boring seasons like 9 and 10, the rest of the show has been mind-numbingly exciting, it is so excruciating that this show has finally come to an end.
Episode 19 just aired hours ago. It was the season finale. There's actually one more episode, but it's meant to be the series finale, which means the story arc deviates from the main storyline in season 15 because it has concluded. I predict it would be probably a few years since episode 19, and Jack and the Winchesters cross path again during some hunting events, and somehow Castiel will come into play. I refuse to believe the show will end without Castiel's return.
This show has been a part of me for the past 15 years. I've grown together with Sam and Dean (literally, I was 11 years old!), and I've watched them both and Castiel 'fathered' a son. By the way, I like Jack. Alexander Calvert's is an awesome actor.
I cannot begin to process that something that has been intrinsically part of me will come to an end next week. I really do feel like a part of me is gone. I really love this show, a lot. I've never been so determined with something for so long.
I'll always remember Supernatural. However it ends.
It's a tad late but I wish to congratulate Joe Biden for becoming the President-elect!
For the past four years the world has witnessed the horror Trump unrolls in the USA and the repercussive effects they have to the world. The chaos, disturb, evil and disturbance to the natural order can finally get a reprieve once Trump officially ends his Presidency come 20th January.
Yes, the Americans are very, very divided at the moment. For such a controversial candidate to have still received 70 million votes is very mind-boggling to the rest of the world, but it is reassuring that the outcome proves that at the very end the good prevails.
We cannot wait for 20th January, 2021 to come. Welcome back to the sane world, the United States of America!
