Quarantine, lockdown, social distancing, and self-isolation are the big buzzwords of 2020. I've read them so many times since the end of January, and not one day goes past where I don't read them while scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, and even WhatsApp now too! I've been thinking a lot about what life will be like moving forward - when university goes back to normal and I'm able to be outside for longer than one and a half hours at a time. My university dorm is still taking the coronavirus very seriously, so the strict rules that applied a few months ago are still applicable for us now.
1. VISIT SOME NEW CAFES
There are so many in my area, as well as the area around the medical campus so I really have no excuse not to! I'm not a study-at-a-cafe type of person, but I am a visit-a-cafe-and-pay-for-an-overpriced-drink-and-pastry type of person, so I'm just patiently waiting for my time to shine. My favourite bakery Rosa has recently renovated and added a cafe section right by my dorm, so that will be the first spot I hit up when the time comes!
2. VISIT THE VAN GOGH STARRY NIGHT ART CENTER
My city has this amazing art center showcasing Van Gogh's works in really cool ways with rooms decorated floor to ceiling with his paintings. I had planned to head there this past winter holiday but we all know what transpired... So, I will hopefully pay a visit this summer, but we'll see. They do discounts if you have a student ID, so I'm excited to save a bit of money too!
3. GET SOME UDON
To celebrate my birthday back in October, my friends and I headed to a Japanese restaurant for some ramen because I was really really craving udon at the time (very specific I know). Fast forward a few months and would you believe I'm still craving udon! I'm a big big fan of noodles and all forms of ramen in general, so a trip back to the same restaurant is definitely on my list.
4. HIT THE SHOPS
As I've said before on the blog, we're only able to go out for an hour and a half 3 times a week. If you head to Walmart you're given 3 hours to allow for travel because all the locations are pretty far and require hopping on the bus or using the metro. So it only makes sense to head out for the supermarket or to pick up some takeaway nearby and swiftly head back to dorm before we get scolded by admin. When we can finally head out without restrictions, I need to head to my favourite stores and stock up on some skincare I ran out of recently. I miss aimlessly wandering around Miniso anyway, so I'll make sure to do that just because I can!
5. START RUNNING AGAIN
This is such a "me" thing to happen, but back in January I decided to start going for a run 4 times a week. I told my dad about it so he could keep me accountable, yet only managed to head out for a run one time (!!!) before our dorm went into lockdown. I want to properly get into it and make it a long-lasting habit, but that can only happen once we get out of lockdown, so I'm putting it on my list to make sure I actually do it.
6. SHOOT MORE OUTDOOR CONTENT
My medical school schedule is hectic and doesn't always allow me to have a lot of free time. Despite this, I really want to diversify the content on my blog by showing some of the best bits of my city. I'm estimating that when this semester is over, we'll be out of lockdown mode and I can properly schedule time to head out and get some shoot new content. This one is a bit up in the air but I hope I can make it happen!
7. TRY NEW MILK TEA FLAVOURS
Not only are there many cafes in the area, but there are also a bunch of milk tea shops that opened up, and every time I head out I feel like an old one closed down and a new one shop opened up! I'm pretty good at avoiding dairy in general (lactose intolerant), but there's just something about milk tea that I just can't do away with just yet. It's a struggle dealing with it afterwards if you catch my drift, so it's a dangerous habit I will get to working on one day...
8. VISIT MORE PARKS
I'm thankful that China has some very beautiful natural spots that I haven't even scratched the surface of yet! A lot of parks here are free to get into and are the perfect place to capture some lovely photos and relax with friends. So far on my list are Meixi Lake, Xihu Park, Huaya Pavillion, and maybe I can squeeze in a trip to Zhangjiajie, but the list is ever growing as I search up new places online.
9. HEAD TO A BUFFET
Really, just because.
10. ORGANISE A BIG MEET UP WITH FRIENDS
A lot of my friends are back in their home countries, so we've been keeping in contact via video calls on WeChat or through those tags going around on Instagram (lol). I get excited thinking about what it'll be like once we're all back together again and able to head to these places and eat all this food!
So that's my post-lockdown/quarantine/self-isolation/social distancing to-do list! I've been indoors since the end of January, and if I had to estimate the days, it's probably been between 75 and 80 (that number alone is making my head spin). It's been tough, but I'm still managing and able to keep myself positive and excited for this chapter in my life to firmly close and hopefully never open again!
I'll see you in the next one!
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