Late July, 2020: We were right in the middle of a global pandemic (still going, but things are currently much better in Australia.. unlike back then, Victoria was just about to go into a full lockdown which ended up lasting 111 days) when I had to make the decision to fly home to Malaysia and be with my mother, who was then just diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer. It turned out to be the right decision, because I got to spend all that time with her before she passed later that year in November, but boy.. the things we took for granted before the pandemic happened!

Long story short, I will skip the process involved with paperwork and jump straight to the 14-day hotel quarantine I had to complete before I could even go home and see my family. In a nutshell, this was my Instagram post:

“My home for the next 14 days. So thankful that the Sarawak government is paying for the cost of mandatory quarantine for Sarawakians! FREE hotel with 3 meals each day all inclusive 😁 Malaysians everywhere else have to pay for their quarantine stays. It has been a long journey, making my way here but I finally made it. If all goes well and I pass my two swab tests on Day 2 and Day 10, I will be free to go on the 9th of August and finally see my mum. Not sure how long I will end up staying, but I guess that also depends on when Melbourne would open up its borders again. One thing at a time lah. For now, I am just glad I finally got to shower after all the plane flights and that 22 hour transit adventure in KLIA 😂
#kuchingquarantine #mandatoryquarantine #quarantinehotel“

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Overall, it was a very comfortable stay and I was so thankful to all the quarantine staff who worked tirelessly day and night to make sure we got our deliveries, and that we were comfortable. I have all the details on my Instagram Stories Highlights, but here are just some of them including quarantine food, my quarantine routine, and just me enjoying a lot of down time, which has become rare when I became a mum – so it was a welcomed break from the world. Quarantineland did me so much good, I am thankful.