Many, many years ago, I tore my calf muscle, had to have surgery, my right leg wrapped in a cast for almost six to eight weeks and after it was removed, I had to learn to walk all over again. Something I had taken for granted my entire life, the ability to put one foot after the other, I had to re-learn.

Its almost how I feelthese days, as I re-learn how to go out to restaurants, have meetings in cafes,enter office buildings and be with people again. After months of staying home,being confined in interactions to the two people I live with (thank goodness weare still talking to one another) and only having my dogs to talk to, itsreally strange to socialize again.

I almost feel I have to re-learn all the rules of physical engagement.

In the WiT Podcast I did with Mike Barclay, CEO of Mandai Park Holdings, which oversees the Night Safari, Zoo, Bird Park and River Safari, he told me how certain animals, which are naturally social, would have no problems adapting when humans return to their world but those which are more introverted would need to be eased into it.

Which category areyou?

The first time I went into a restaurant in Orchard Road, I felt like I was entering a foreign country. You have to enter with the Safe Entry app, get your temperature taken, and then you get a coloured sticker that you place on a part of yourself, to indicate youve been processed and approved.

When I got to the Pistachiorestaurant, I flinched. It wasnt really packed, but it felt like it to me.Remember, in the last months, three had truly become a crowd, so 10 is a mob. Myheart started racing. Then I saw my friends whom I hadnt seen since CircuitBreaker started. The upper half of their faces lookedoh-so-dear-and-oh-so-familiar. I sensed their smiles behind the masks.

Pistachio has gonecontactless and cashless. Covid has really done tech a big favour. You scan theQR code, order and pay on your phone. The only contact with staff comes whenthey serve your food and drinks. The chef and owner though comes out to sayhello he is appreciative for the support. I can only imagine what thispandemic has done to his business and I am glad that hes still smiling, stillgracious and his food is still oh-so-good.

I now realise what Ihave missed eating delivered food at home is nothing like eatingfreshly-cooked food, prepared by a chef who cares, with friends you care about.And I dont know if I imagined it but other than the initial part where we hadto order and pay with our mobile, the three of us talked like we hadnt for along while, without being constantly distracted and interrupted by our devices.It was like we had re-discovered the joy of being with each other again.

After that firstouting, I have slowly ventured out more. Some days, I end up with so manycoloured stickers on my clothes, I feel like a polka dotted panda. I have goneback to my favourite food courts, cafes and restaurants and learnt to talkagain with people, to listen, to empathise, to make eye contact and todifferentiate between Zoom faces and real faces.

I say this because this week, I caught up with CC Chan, CEO and co-founder of GlobalTix, and I realized that I had seen him more often on screen than in real life this year and in fact, the last time we met for real was last December in Las Vegas. This virtual life we have been forced to live is doing weird things to my psyche, I cant tell virtual from real anymore.

I think this is why afriend sensing I was in danger of disappearing into Zombie land decided toinvite me on a private cruise to the Southern Islands. The last time I venturedthis far south in Singapore was probably two decades ago. There were alwaysfurther oceans to discover. Now this is the only ocean weve got to explore.

Getting on that boatand sailing off into the sunset was the closest Ive got to feeling like Imtravelling again. You know, that sensation of movement, freedom and lightness.I had to re-learn to breathe that in, to hold it, and to allow that feeling ofwonder and sense of adventure to take over.

And I couldnt have had a better guide than Chong Wei Yong, founder of Discover Sailing Asia, whose passion for sailing led him to set up the company that offers sailing programmes and holidays in Asia. His boats operate in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

As he happened to bein Singapore when Circuit Breaker started, hes spent the past few months hereand in the past couple of weeks, with the easing of restrictions, hes had timeto explore the Southern Islands, and so he knows how to tell good stories aboutthem about the first turtle hatchery that is on the twin Sisters Islands,the wishing well and Chinese temple on Kusu Island, the glass building thatsits empty on Lazarus Island one of those projects built for an event andthen forgotten.

We stopped off on Lazarus Island for a walk to the beach. Looking out onto the horizon and seeing only one sail boat in the distance, I felt like I was on the private island of Nikoi, which isnt that far away really, from where I stood maybe seven to eight hours of sailing, said Chong. Can we go there? I asked wistfully. He laughed indulgently.

So for now, we all have to be content with sailing close to home and we have to learn to be like water. I quote the late Bruce Lee, Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

He was speaking about kung fu but he could just as well be speaking about living in the time of coronavirus.

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Excuse me, did I see you on Zoom or was it for real? Re-learning the rituals of socialising again - Web In Travel