The number of Covid cases has increased significantly in the last week or so, with new cases in the Philippines exceeding 7000 per day. I wonder if it's because people have gotten a bit more complacent given that we have now been in some form of quarantine for a little more than a year (we were placed under ECQ on March 17, 2020). That, or people have just gotten tired of being cooped up at home. Just a few hours ago, an announcement was made that additional restrictions are going to be implemented to hopefully reduce or better manage the number of new cases. While I wouldn't say I've gotten complacent or that I'm feeling an extreme urge to spend time outside my living area, a couple of weeks ago, I did get a haircut for the first time in about a year. I haven't had a haircut since quarantine started but in the last couple of months, my long hair had become increasingly annoying. I scheduled an appointment at the salon next door during a one-week leave that I took and I requested for the first slot at 9am on a Monday. I figured that there would be few to no other customers during that time plus the fact that being the first appointment meant that no other customers would have been serviced yet. My assumption proved to be correct since I was the only customer during my slot. Cool!
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| My first haircut in a year |
Another benefit of me being on leave for a week was that I was able to have my broken Samsung phone battery replaced. Not only was my phone discharging very quickly - a full charge would only last a few hours - but if I was actively using any apps, my phone would immediately die even if the battery was still at 50%. The closest Samsung service center was in Megamall and as it turned out, I had to go there twice because I was told during my first visit that a battery replacement wasn't available and they still had to order it. Thankfully, it arrived while I was still on leave. The problem was that I had to wait about 3-4 hours because the technicians still had to observe the new battery and ensure it was working properly. Thankfully, it was a Friday afternoon so most people were at work and the mall wasn't packed. I had a late lunch in Pizza Express since only two other tables were occupied when I got there. I was hoping to just stay there the entire afternoon but they didn't have any coffee so after lunch, I moved to French Baker (there were maybe 2 or 3 other tables occupied and French Baker had really good dividers between tables and even seats so it felt quite safe). Thankfully, my phone battery now works.
I also started using my the Save Money service of GCash. My friends who work at GCash and Globe told me that the interest rate was 4% so I thought it would a good place to save some of my money. As it turns out, the interest rate has gone down to 2.6% now. Still, it's much better than what most other savings accounts offer.
Finally, I am now exercising again. Since the start of the month, I've probably exercised 6 to 7 times. I still want to work out a bit more frequently than that - maybe 4-5 times a week - but at least I'm not sedentary anymore and I get to break into a sweat every now and then. What I discovered is that a 15-minute HIIT workout followed by a 15-minute yoga session with my Down Dog apps is the best, at least at my current level of fitness. Hopefully I can keep at it and lengthen my exercise sessions or make them more difficult in the near future.
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