Deploying Supplies

March 28, 2022

There was no telling when the lockdown would actually start so I had to move fast. The sight of all those people in white hazmat suits walking around in the premises was not good, and so I bolted. With all the vegetables procured last night at the shops, a good portion needed to be delivered to my in-laws who were stuck in the suburbs. The bicycle was coming to the rescue for that.

I could have fit an extra bag of rice on there, but they insisted this was enough. Reluctantly I set off with just this.

The bike was really the only way to do this because the suburbs had gotten hit a lot harder with covid. As a result, many taxis would just not drive out there. Public transit was dribbling out also. Besides it made a nice excuse for a ride.

I saw how busy it was outside as people were preparing for lockdown and just shook my head. By far and away the majority of the traffic and crowds was centered on grocery stores. Here we are crowding in stores and spreading covid to stock up for a lockdown that is supposed to stop the spread of covid.

Endless lines of tape blocking off compounds on both sides. This all had an eerie feel to it.

This doubles as a quarantine hotel that was the epicenter of the entire outbreak. Things were detected in early March but it had to have started spreading a month prior. The central air-conditioning system broke down and circulated covid within the quarantine wing for international arrivals towards the rest of the building. It took weeks or months before this was discovered, and it was too late.

This queue went on for well over a kilometer. Covid testing of course.

There was also a massive Metro wholesale market (like Costco) and I stopped off there out of curiosity. The number of people there was insane and I later found out they queued for over 3 hours to buy provisions. From what I saw the amount of stuff they were buying was absolutely massive. I gave up even trying.

A rare find, an open sit-down restaurant

One of many countless sealed-off compounds. You know these are the serious ones with the blue tents. These indicate a confirmed case has been found and the place has been sealed off for 14 days. Spot the guy in the blue hazmat suit

This is where all the deliveries go to sealed off compounds

The operation was a complete success. Much to my surprise, my in-laws' compound was not locked down anymore. I was invited inside to sit down, chat, eat, and catch up on stuff. They wanted to return the favor by loading me up with a bunch of food to take back. I couldn't possibly do that but they insisted, and on and on it went. Eventually I compromised with agreeing to take just a few things. We don't know how long any future lockdowns could last, so the whole point of this operation was to bring food to them.

I bought some fresh fruit here. It was perfect because everyone else was scared due to a recent confirmed case here (yellow barriers just removed today)

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 71 km (44 miles)

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