Hello, stranger

How am I doing? It varies from hour to hour. At 11am, I got permission to leave my compound to walk the 3 blocks to my boyfriend’s apartment, so I could deliver some Snickers and instant coffee and wave to him from across the street. The streets were littered with styrofoam delivery boxes and bits and pieces of used PPE. My boyfriend and I decided to do lockdown separately, with 4 cats and 1 dog between us when lockdown started (1 dog + 1 cat were COVID fosters). It’s just 4

I spent my Friday night in lockdown reposting the same video over and over again. For a video that dominated my WeChat Moments feed for hours, it's not viral-sensational. Just simple drone footage of the city, layered with audio clips that most people in Shanghai have heard in the month of April. A voice from Shanghai's official government announcement, followed by the many, many voices of ordinary people and their lockdown struggles. It's very plain. There's no editorializin

The rain in the last couple of days helped. Its not as inviting as the sunny bright blue skies that’s taunting me right now. The water and supplies I ordered should have arrived yesterday. As it stands, I’ve gotta wait at least 10 more days. But luckily, my friend ordered me an “emergency box” from Epermarket that arrived yesterday. What a haul. And it wasn’t until I was packing away the groceries (immediately challenged by my small cat lady fridge that used to only hold forg

Infographic by SmartShanghai So my freedom was short-lived. Turns out many communities have taken it upon themselves to "control" the "prevention/precautionary" areas (which have had been COVID negative for 14 days or more) the same way they control the "control" areas (COVID negative for 7 days)... If you think that's a mouthful, I hear ya. My compound's gates remain locked, but at least I'm now allowed to walk around in the yard and get some sun. It was quite the fake-out.

I'm... Free? Official announcements said today the city's neighborhoods would be categorized into lockdown (14 more days), control (7 more days), and prevention (free to move about the area), and somehow, with much luck, my little neighborhood is on the prevention area list. I'm free. And I don't how to process this feeling. I went out for a walk with the poor dog who's been stuck at home this whole time. The streets were nearly empty, except for a handful of delivery scoot

As expected, the 4-day lockdown is not just for 4 days. Staying home for 7 days is no travesty. But not being told to plan for a strict lockdown with no end in sight, and no delivery, is… Challenging. Many people hoarded food before lockdown started. I, having been through lockdown lite in 2020, expected deliveries to resume once lockdown is extended. [Edit: And I. Was. Wrong.] There’s a rumor going around the some parts of the city will reopen tomorrow, but there’s no knowin

The hardest parts about isolation? Not being able to explain to my friend's dog Mocha (covid foster, my friend is in hotel quarantine) that it's ok to go to the bathroom indoors, and the Internet. I did a Turning Red Zoom viewing party last night with a group of friends, and a lunchtime (what is time? what is lunch?) Zoom workout. I can't help but notice the contrast between the people online lamenting the food shortage (there isn't one, but the stores were definitely overwhe