By Petra Moelker-Pronk

In recent months we have been forced to spend a lot of time in and around the house. Because of one virus our world shrunk to a few square kilometres and we had to travel in our minds. It’s interesting to see what happens when your normal routine no longer exists and you have to find new ways to fill your day.

For some of us it took some major adjustment to deal with all this free time and lack of activity. For others it was a blessing in disguise. It turned out the lockdown also had some advantages. We finally had time for things we never got around to. COVID-19 has clearly addressed the potential of our community. Some people decided it was the perfect time to realize their dreams and start a new hobby or learn new skills to build up their career. Others took up an old hobby. It turned out Panaga is hosting a lot of creative and artistic talent. Some focused on colourful interior designing or playful gardening. A lot of people tried to create a healthier lifestyle by starting a diet or increasing their occasional walk to an impressive 20 km daily. Here I present a small selection of the many initiatives during the lockdown.

Mirian Quezada: Jigsaw puzzles

I know that in times of the COVID-pandemic a lot of people are trying new hobbies. I just went back to my old hobby of doing puzzles. I’ve been so lucky that some of my friends in Panaga have lent me some puzzles to do.

The one in the picture (see page 8) is The Global puzzle guide. It was 600 pieces and it was challenging because of the shape of the pieces.

I love doing puzzles. It really is a great escape from reality and it makes my brainwork, and it was my Mom’s (RIP) favourite hobby.

Besides doing puzzles I’m enjoying walking with my friends and family (keeping social distance of course), learning new recipes and playing golf, one of my favourite sports I learned while living in Brunei.

Sheridan Kempton: Quilting 

I have been experimenting with quilting for over 12 months – basically, since I’ve been in Brunei. My mum was always either knitting or quilting, but I was never interested. I remember the frustration on her face when she would try to explain either one to me, but I always had other things to do (sorry Mum).

So, if I’d just listened when I was younger I would have known. So hello Google! There are plenty of tutorials on quilting. I also joined some online quilting groups who are always happy to give advice when needed. The hardest part is colour combinations. Choosing a colour scheme that works and prevents over-the-top colours clashing or boring results from your hours of work. You just need the right amount of “pop”.

My quilting is all done on the sewing machine. I’m way too impatient for hand sewing. I mainly make lap and single quilts. Not sure I have the patience for queen or king size quilts. I might try one at some stage.

A lot of my inspiration comes from Pinterest. There are so many talented people out there. My very first quilt I gave to my great niece, I was so proud of it! I love making quilts for children. I made a Thomas the Tank Engine quilt for a friend’s grandson, and the big smile on his face was worth all the sewing.

Nova Dudley-Gough: Rainbow bookcase
I first saw bookcases organised by colour somewhere on the internet; I thought it was totally stupid and completely superficial and wholeheartedly mocked it. My  books were organised alphabetically and then chronologically by publication date, and it would obviously always be done that way, despite multiple moves and relocations.

Then we moved to a very shiny, white, open-plan apartment in 2012. My books all of a sudden looked scruffy and messy and I really did not like that. The colour organisation idea popped back in my head and I thought that I would give it a try. And I loved it! I left the colour organisation as one of my last unpacking tasks to do once we were settled in Brunei, and it was a great mini-project to do during lockdown.

It takes me about 3-4 hours total. I organise the books by colour as I pull them off the shelves, and separate out hardback and oversize books, which I also organise by colour. Putting them back on the shelves is the tough part – I like to make sure that the colours work well together as a whole look, and I do end up moving whole sections around or merging colours together.

It’s very much “my thing” rather than a family endeavour as I do find it fun to do (don’t judge me, lockdown boredom can hit hard!) and they humour me in this! I always get compliments on it by visitors, and I still really like how it looks. We have quite a messy house with a lot of stuff in it, so to see the books obviously organised balances this out.

Everyone always asks how I find books when they’re organised in this way, and honestly, it’s not a problem at all. I have quite a visual memory for books and obviously after shelving the books I’ve spent several hours staring at the spines, so I generally can find the books very quickly. My husband just asks me if he can’t find something he’s looking for, but the majority of the books on these shelves are mine. Simon has his travel and science books kept separately, which is fine as the colours on those are generally quite dull (sorry Simon haha).

I can’t imagine having my books organised traditionally anymore, and in fact I’ve just organised our CDs (yes, we still have CDs) by colour, too. It is much harder to find CDs though, so thank goodness for Spotify!

Oorna Bandyopadhyay: Gardening
Having spent our last decade in deserts, having lilies growing in our garden has been a harboured fantasy for long. The lockdown phase allowed that extra time to do that again. We’ve now got a few flower patches around our house.

Not only are these blooms making us happy but served as an invite for the monkeys who have had immense pleasure in enjoying it their way and making havoc when they spot something colourful amidst all that green. I’m now working on my herbs and hoping this won’t be as inviting to those brats.

Naincy Verma: Taste of life vlog
Starting my own food channel was my long-cherished dream. I always wanted to share my passion for baking and cooking with others. But the responsibilities of a job and caring for my newborn daughter kept me busy in the last few years. During that time, I would experiment new cooking and baking recipes, mostly by myself and occasionally with close friends and family. The lockdown during COVID-19 provided the extra impetus to put some extra effort to finally start my YouTube channel, which I can use as a platform to reach out to all food lovers.

Lockdown was not easy, and you could have easily gotten bored with the same food. Also, all the restaurants were closed and even dining out for the cuisine of your choice was not possible. Therefore I thought, “why not bring the restaurant home?”. With the help of this channel you can cook all the yummy recipes that are normally not a part of our daily meals. You can either make yummy snacks in the evening or an exotic Indian curry for dinner with the help of this channel.

I love bringing a smile to people’s face and what better way than making delicious food to make someone happy. I also enjoy the challenge of making new recipes that I have not seen or tasted before.

I used to follow so many great chefs for recipes and would also experiment with many new recipes by myself. But I must say that I got the real inspiration of cooking from my mom. My mom is a great chef and everybody in our family circle loves her food. She used to create her recipes by herself, and I learned most of my Indian cuisines from her.

My signature dish would be Shahi paneer Masala. It’s an Indian vegetarian dish and a very famous delicacy in the northern part of India. Subscribe to my YouTube channel @Taste of life vlog! Login to the YouTube channel with your Gmail username and click on the Subscribe button on the right hand side. Enjoy the yummy food videos!

By Sarah Harrison

A shared frustration around camp right now seems to be the overwhelming sense of uncertainty and lack of ability to plan ahead (holiday, anyone?). In our tiny convenient launchpad to APAC, there’s very little light at the end of the tunnel for when borders will reopen, when families can be reunited, and when one can simply get off the island for a cocktail made by someone you don’t know.

For me, as the coronavirus made its presence known in Australia, my freelance work was understandably put on hold by sensible clients also unsure of the future. While I was expecting this to happen, I hadn’t really thought about what I’d do when it did. At the strike of COVID all bets were off and I was suddenly staring at a blank canvas that I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with.

So, I decided to look at it as an opportunity and grant myself the permission I apparently needed to completely step back from my business and focus on some long-term planning. Instead of my usual 12-month goal setting, I thought I’d consider how I’d like life to look in the next 12, 18 and 24 months ahead, and what I needed to do now in order to get me there.

As I started to brainstorm, research my options and then plan backwards, the end of 2020 all of a sudden seemed dangerously close with a great deal left to do. My plan started to take shape: study for the remainder of this year and partially into next; some strategic industry networking in Melbourne, Brunei, Singapore and London; a few personal goals; and continuing what I did pre-COVID but at a more advanced level after upskilling.

This new sense of urgency and purpose was a welcome feeling in the great unknown of the coronavirus. The process of planning may look different for everyone, but this is how I broke it all down without becoming overwhelmed.

Brainstorm and visualise

Why not live in the possibility of your future what if’s, right now in the present? Dream big and think bold about how you want your life to look in the coming years. And I mean your life. This is about you. Are you consulting around the best places to travel and explore as an expat family? Are you running a successful, monetised blog? Are you a wellness coach helping others find their healthy-happy? Are you simply the best version of yourself that you could have hoped for? Fantastic! Dream it, plan it, do it. My current BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is to profit from helping people create beautiful, functional spaces as part of the customer journey, extending my former online work in this area. I’m basically doing the opposite of “going digital” and putting myself into the physical realm to influence great experiences based on our surroundings. A big
tip is to keep it real by being SMART with your goals: Make them specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

Research and plan backwards

This is where you get down to business by making the above feel like a tangible, achievable goal and not just something out of a Real Housewives Of… scenario (but of course you can make your own perfume brand if you so wish – remember the BHAG). Research specifically what it is you need to do in order to achieve the above and don’t hesitate to ask friends or family for feedback or contacts. Do you need to do a course? How long does it go for? Does it have good reviews? Will this type of learning suit you? Do you have access to learning materials? Will the qualification be recognised in other countries? Ask all of the questions. For me, I researched dozens of courses and settled on one that turned out to be a complete flop. Don’t be disheartened by the setbacks and if it seems overwhelming at the planning stage, commit 20 minutes a day to it and follow this next step.

Stay on track

I initially created a learning and development plan for myself to get really clear on what, how and when I was going to do it all. I also made a three-year plan with my intention for each year plus a list of keywords that helped describe the feeling or goal for that year. Then I found an “accountability buddy”, someone who I could regularly connect with to help us both feel inspired, supported and on track. Lastly, it can be helpful to print and pin up your plans, however they may look or sound, as a visual reminder of what you want to achieve. It’s worth keeping in mind that planning is all good and proper, but things can change and you might receive the odd curveball (although as expats, we’re more resilient than most). If something knocks you off course, reassess, readjust and offer yourself the patience and kindness you deserve to persevere or try a different tack; life is, after all, a constant journey.
Happy planning!

About The Author

Sarah is a freelance content, brand and communications consultant, originally from Australia, with a passion for living authentically, consciously and in alignment with her best self. She arrived in Brunei at the start of 2019 from London and also shares her time with Melbourne for business (and shopping). Sarah lives in Panaga with her husband, David Dundas, and their little foster fluff ball, Cologne. Her favourite elements of Brunei include the beach walks, sunsets, soaring Brahminy Kites and the lovely silver leaf monkeys.