After spending a while in the city we moved to the mountains for a bit. Previously I had avoided any trips that involved long vehicle rides because of covid risk, but I think I’m now relatively comfortable wearing a zimi kn95 mask during these rides. The filtration of these masks are great (and I like the obsessiveness of the founder) – could possibly better than the 3m aura n95, and they fit our face better too. We now wear a kn100 version on flights.
Some parts of the 1hr ride was steep and windy, causing some intense motion sickness for my partner, but it was all worth it when we arrived. Singapore is very dense and built-up though she can still be a lot greener than other similar dense cities, but the greenery of chiang mai’s mountains are on an entirely different level:
It was so comforting to have a proper latte against a beautiful backdrop and cool weather:
I may not have seen ducklings before:
My partner calls this the quintessential duck – the kind we would see illustrated in children’s books:
I was hit on the head by a falling roll of blinds on an aluminium pole today at breakfast, and it gave me an existential crisis. It was just sheer bad luck because I happened to be walking past with my plate of sunny side ups while the staff was rolling up the blinds. It wasn’t supposed to fall or drop. They were shocked and kept asking me if I wanted to go to the hospital, an hour away in the city.
Thankfully for now I seem fine, the small bump it caused didn’t evolve into much pain and I hope it stays that way. Hopefully I’ll still get to wake up tomorrow. I just don’t want to have a concussion no matter how mild, because I know it may cause chronic issues. Somehow I am just thankful it is not worse, it could have been an iron rod, my skull could have cracked, I wouldn’t want to be in a one-hour ambulance ride on a long and windy mountainous route to the hospital with a cracked skull and a bleeding head.
It makes me think again how impermanent is life – I mean, who would have thought walking with a plate of eggs during breakfast would be dangerous, and that could be the last time I am conscious in this life?
I guess the fact that I can still write this post is a good sign.
It is rare for us to spend time near nature, and it feels relatively long since we had this opportunity. I think the last time was pre-covid. It feels nice to sleep without vehicle sounds and light pollution. Maybe it is not that rare in your part of the world?