A NATURIST'S PICTORIAL ACCOUNT OF THE PANDEMIC YEAR OF 2020

2020 was a sad and most unfortunate year. It’s the worst I have ever encountered in my lifetime and that’s perhaps because I’m not old enough to have experienced the Spanish Flu which was much worse. But I want to look on the bright side and post a pic a month for the whole of 2020 to capture what I did in the nude. As I look through my photos on Google Photos, I can’t help but feel that life was still not all that bad. True, all my flights were cancelled but life is more than going abroad on a holiday even though I live in a rather tiny island. 

The main thing is to smile and be grateful that it could have been much worse. 

JANUARY 2020 

At that time, I didn’t know the Wuhan virus (as it was then called) would become a worldwide pandemic. At that time, my country was waiting for some bigger country to act and block travel from China. China was very aggressive against any country that tried to do that and we didn’t dare to face its wrath. Thankfully, the US blocked all travel from China on 31 January 2020 and we followed suit immediately after that. This photo was taken on 12 January 2020 when I merely visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. If I had known it would be the pandemic year, I would have gone far further away and for much longer.

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FEBRUARY 2020

This pic was taken on 15 February 2020. The virus from China turned out to be very deadly. Countries that are close geographically to China (such as mine) are usually wary of news from China. Good news from China is not always good news. The Communist state is well known for covering up every bad thing and punishing whistle-blowers severely. Because of our proximity to China, we were affected by SARS in 2003 and the memory from that experience lingered on. Immediately, we were all masked. But there was news that China had bought up a lot of our masks the previous year (they probably already knew they were heading for a disaster in late 2019) but I was fortunate because I had kept some supplies. If you live within the influence of China, it pays to be extra cautious.

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MARCH 2020

But not long after everyone started wearing masks, the WHO took the stand that we were not to wear them. All we had to do, said the WHO, was to keep hand hygiene. Masks were to be left to healthcare workers. Of course this proved to be one of the many wrong steps taken by the WHO.

Reading in the sun is what I always do to maintain my tan. Notice how thick the book is?  That would soon be a thing of the past as I began to embrace modern technology. But more of that later.

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APRIL 2020

I have long maintained that real books were made of paper and a screen was not a book and I rebelled against e-readers for a long time. One day in April, I tried reading from an iPad and before I knew it, I developed a preference for it. For one thing, you don't have to lug a huge volume (like the one in the previous photo).

Suddenly, a weight was lifted off my hands and I could read in any position:

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MAY 2020

By May, almost the whole world was in lockdown. The pandemic was raging through the entire planet wreaking havoc everywhere. It was important to keep the body healthy. Wushu or Kung Fu practices came in handy:

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JUNE 2020

My country is very reliant on foreign labour and by early February 2020 foreign labour was in short supply and I had to do my own gardening. By June gardening became really hard work as my garden turned into a jungle:

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JULY 2020

This photo was taken on 21 July 2020 and I was still hard at work:

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AUGUST 2020

This was the height of the season for the cempedak fruit. If you don't live in Asia, here's a rare peek into what the cempedak fruit looks like:

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SEPTEMBER 2020

I had to get rid of the mosquitoes and the most effective method is to place BTI pellets in all the drains and places where there is a tendency for water to accumulate. 

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OCTOBER 2020

I got myself a good hiking watch in October. The pandemic can't last forever and I'm sure I'll go nude hiking again next summer. Anyway, a few days after I bought this watch, I went hiking with a friend in search of a lost World War II Japanese shrine in the jungle. We got lost and this watch helped me find my way out. It's the best watch for hiking from Garmin.

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NOVEMBER 2020

On the last day of November 2020, I started to get serious with bodybuilding. A friend got me to use the plan devised by Arnold Schwartzenegger in his 1800-page bodybuilding encyclopaedia. I go to the gym regularly and if I can't make it, I work out at home on dumbbells and equipment that I have.

But don't expect to see a change in my body! I only started on the last day of November 2020. Give it a year or more and I'll be very surprised if you don't see a resemblance to the Incredible HULK.

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DECEMBER 2020

Three things happened in December that I should talk about if I am to give a truthful representation of my life in 2020. 

1.  In early December, I got myself a Kindle. That's quite a progress for someone who once believed only in reading paper books. It's as revolutionary as moving away from parchment!  Here is a pic when I first got my Kindle Paperwhite and I found it absolutely indispensable. Now, I blush at the thought that it was only in early 2020 when I scoffed at e-readers.

    

2.   In early December, I was furious when I read that China targeted Australia in a brutal economic attack. And what was it that China was upset about? Australia had supported a call for an investigation into the cause of the Covid pandemic. Sometimes I wonder what it is that China is hiding from the world that makes a mere call for an investigation into the cause of a disease so terribly unpalatable to it. What the rogue state did was to levy a huge tax on Australian wine imports. #SupportAustralianWine became the rallying cry for anyone who believed in justice and fair play. Even Taiwan made an announcement that it would support Australian wine. Although I don't drink alcohol, I can at least do what I'm good at - taking selfies.  Here's a pic of me with two bottles of Aussie wine and I'm not kidding - they really are Aussie wine.

3.  Because non-essential air travel is currently an impossibility, I have been visiting tourist spots in this tiny country of mine. And I must say it can be quite fun to. We have the world's best zoo.  That panda came from the zoo. This pic was taken on the last day of December 2020:

2020 wasn't that bad after all. But let's hope for a better 2021.  Surely China has some answering to do? Should we not demand from China some assurance that there won't be a repeat of what it has unleashed to the world in 2020? Don't forget that China gave us SARS in 2003. Or is the rest of the world afraid that China might hit out at them the way it has made an example of Australia? Do we let rogue states get away with carnage?