Malaysia (Covid -19 & Lockdown) March 26 2020

If you are Covid-19 free, just stay at home
Prevention is better than cure !
Don't even think of free & easy
 travelling at this moment !

Malaysia was placed under
a partial Lockdown
 from 18 March - 14 April 2020 !

If you have a piece of bread with butter
 as your daily breakfast this morning
do not complain ! 

" LIFE is short. Time is fast. No Replay. No Rewind. So enjoy every Moment you can "

1) Hanging up my shoes for travelling ?  Should I give up my passion in travelling now or just stay home or focus on domestic travelling when situation returns to normal ? An unsettling mind I am now facing caused by the Corona virus outbreak, a global pandemic now ! Very distressful indeed at this point of time ! 

2) Major airlines inbound & outbound grounded - fortunately I do not have any pre-bookings of air tickets or package tours for my 2020 travels, so a blessing for me otherwise it will be nightmares for me going through the hassles of trying to seek refunds or changing the dates of travels or just burn the air tickets ... 2020 is certainly not a great year for travelling, if not because of the Conronavirus outbreak, my plan of revisiting Taiwan this month & the West Coast of USA/Canada in May 2020 could be realised & fulfilled ! But I have to give up these thoughts now so forget about free & easy traveling for the time being until the next Spring arrives !

3) Cancellation of Malaysian premier travel & other related fairs in Kuala Lumpur & states ? The Lockdown (started on 18 March & expect to end on 31 March) in Malaysia has been extended from 31 March to 14 April 2020, a longer self quarantine for all; needless to say the travel industry will be badly hit by this Corona virus outbreak - a global pandemic now hitting over 180 countries worldwide ! Hope things get better in the 2nd half of 2020 ! Unlikely I will be doing any free & easy travels & package tours in 2020 but I may opt for my Cuti Cuti (Vacation) & Jalan Jalan (Walkabout) to various tourist attractions in my home country. It will be a bonus if I can undertake a free & easy visit to a nearby Asian country this year if the environment is conducive for overseas travel in later part of 2020 !  

4) Last minute grocery shopping in Aeon Big supermarket, Subang Jaya (my home place) prior to Lockdown starting from Wednesday 18 March 2020

5) Buying of fresh produce, eggs, fish, meat & dried goods in SS15 Wet Market, Subang Jaya (a 10 minutes walk from my house) during the weekdays & weekends with my wife - so far so good but concerns about adequate supplies of fresh produce due to transport & distribution disruption of green from farms to market places in the days ahead ! Entries to the SS15 wet market are strictly controlled from 7.15am onward ... so be prepared for a long queue .... my wife & myself woke up early (6am) & did all the wet market shopping before the start of the enforcement  ! Both of us are getting used to our daily life during the movement control period ie wearing face marks, using sanitiser to clean our hands, social distancing, queuing in wet markets, bakeries, pork butcher shops & pharmacies, self quarantine & staying at home etc 

6) Queuing up to buy groceries from a supermarket & chilled / frozen pork butcher shop in Subang Jaya, a special lane for senior citizens shopping in Jaya Grocer Supermarket so the waiting time is shorter ! I managed to complete my grocery shopping in a relative short period of time !

7) The Lockdown has shut down all the shopping complexes, shops etc; Subang Jaya township was unusually quiet during the morning hours; likewise, this applies to the residential area where I stayed ! 

8) Public transport ie buses, LRT trains etc are operating shorter hours in Kuala Lumpur during the Lockdown period ie 06.00 > 10.00 & 17.00 > 22.00 so in between these periods, you have to rely on Grab or taxis to get to your destinations ... so no short day trips for me to downtown Kuala Lumpur & suburban places by LRT trains during the Lockdown period ! 

9) SS15 LRT station, Subang Jaya (the nearest LRT station to my home place)  - pretty quiet & minus the morning crowd heading to work !

10) The small garden I normally do my morning walk in SS17, Subang Jaya - not a soul & deserted; I missed my daily morning exercise very much ! 

11) Bread & Butter issue - an acute short supplies of white bread loaves in most retail outlets ie 99 Speedmart, KK Mini Market etc in my township, Subang Jaya ! Same applies to long queue in buying fresh eggs & basic essential food & commodities ie canned sardines, anchovies etc in wet market  & grocery stores !  

12) More headaches coming - the Government has just announced the extension of Lockdown (Movement Control Order) from 31 March > 14 April 2020 - social distancing & self quarantine become the order of the day ... forget about eating out & chat time with travel buddies, no dim sum meals, no Qigong practices etc 

13) Covid-19 Current situation in Malaysia -  as at noon, Thursday 26 March 2020, Malaysia has recorded 1,796 cases of Covid-19 infections, 21 deaths, most fatal cases involved elderly people ! But by this evening, the number of cases had risen to 2,031 & 23 deaths reported ! Worldwide, the virus death toll has passed 30,000 & over 600,000 infections ! More than 3 billion people around the world are living under lockdown ... the good news is that China has lifted the lockdown in Wuhan but scary to hear that Italy coronavirus death toll has surpassed 10,000 ! 

14) Good news for vehicle owners in Malaysia - the weekly fuel price took a big dip from Rm1.82 (US$0.42) to Rm1.44 (US$0.33) per litre starting from March 21 to 27; fuel prices in Malaysia are highly subsidised by the government ! 

15) Makan Makan (Eating) at home during the Lockdown period; my simple home cooked lunch at 1pm on Friday March 27 2020 after doing some postings of my travel blog ie a plate of pork porridge with steamed herbal chicken & mushroom (leftover from last night dinner & re-cooked) - a yummy meal for an oldie of 70 years old ! 

16) My simple home cooked lunch for a family of 4 people on Saturday (March 28 2020) ie canned sardines / onions, stir fried long bean / carrots & fried eggs !