Roaring Year of the Tiger

I didn't expect myself to come back to Singapore so quickly. I was only here during Christmas and now I am back in Singapore for Chinese New Year. I was already to plan out a holiday in Thailand. With the news that Thailand was ready to resume the Test & Go Scheme starting 1 Feb, the thought of coming back for CNY sparkled brightly and eventually took flight. This time round, I was more familiar with the processes. The Test & Go Scheme was resumed with a slight twist. This time round, instead of staying for one night for the PCR result, we have to book two nights of hotel stay on Day 1 and Day respectively. Both days have to include a RT-PCR test booking. This is definitely an additional cost for those who wish to enter Thailand as tourists. The new twist was met, not with the end consumers, but with the hoteliers in Thailand. They expressed their unhappiness to the government, saying that the scheme in this fashion will not be able to attract tourists to return to Thailand.

Whatever it is, I am glad to have been back for the Chinese New Year celebration. The whole trip back costs me an estimated amount of SGD1200. Below are the breakdown of the costs:

1. Pre-departure ATK (Thailand side) - $12

2. Arrival RT-PCR (Singapore side) - $125

3. Return air ticket with SQ - $380 (approx)

4. Pre-departure RT-PCR (Singapore side) - $130 (approx)

5. Day 1 hotel stay at 5* hotel - $300 (with PCR test)

6. Day 5 hotel stay at 5* hotel - $220 (with PCR test)

Total: $1167 or B28,692

Of course, this is definitely cheaper than spending $2500 on the 14 days quarantine in Singapore previously. It's definitely a more manageable price. However, we still hope that this will further be made easier for travellers and making traveling more accessible. Everyone seems to be more positive this year that the pandemic will slow down and even comes to an end by December this year. I also hope that by July this year, traveling will be more affordable and easier as well. I do not plan to come back any sooner after this trip I am just so thankful to God that I was able to spend quality times with my family members during Christmas and now for Chinese New Year. Given the fact that many of us have not been able to do so for the past two years, this kind of arrangement is good enough for now.

I love the times I am spending with my mum at the neighbourhood coffeeshop. This time round, I didn't arrange to meet with friends. I wanted my time in Singapore to be solely for the family this time.