~{nilheadimage~=141840~} 
Let's start with Sunday, which brought two things of note.

Firstly, a very pleasant walk in the early-morning rain:

~{nilimage~=141834~;dir~=H~;alt~=temple~;caption~=I love this light...~}
~{nilimage~=141835~;dir~=H~;alt~=rock~;caption~=The ~{purplepost~=1189~;text~=Rock~;target~=rock~} we first visited back at the end of January~}
~{nilimage~=141851~;dir~=V~;alt~=abandoned1~;caption~=Some picturesque abandoned buildings near Aeon. Not haunted (as far as we know anyway...)~}
~{nilimage~=141853~;dir~=H~;alt~=abandoned2~}
~{nilimage~=141855~;dir~=V~;alt~=abandoned3~}
~{nilimage~=141854~;dir~=H~;alt~=lanterns~;caption~=Lanterns in the half-light~}
~{nilimage~=141836~;dir~=H~;alt~=tarts~;caption~=Portuguese egg tarts! From Toast Bread Cafe~}
~{nilimage~=141837~;dir~=H~;alt~=tartsview1~;caption~=The view from the tarts~}
~{nilimage~=141838~;dir~=H~;alt~=tartsview2~}
~{nilimage~=141856~;dir~=H~;alt~=waterchick1~;caption~=Adorable... One of a pair of water-chicks, clearly surprised at the size of his FEET~}
~{nilimage~=141857~;dir~=H~;alt~=waterchick2~}
~{nilimage~=141858~;dir~=H~;alt~=waterchick1~;caption~=Mum~}
Secondly, Sunday saw the completion of a whole year's worth of ~{purplepost~=1026~;text~=1 Second Everyday~;target~=1se~} movies, the grand total of which -- all 365 seconds of it -- you can see ~{link~= http://nilaligned.net/video/Mash20200412-365.mp4 ~;text~=here~;target~=yearmash~}. I can understand if you're not game for this marathon, but for us, it's a poignant day-by-day record of what has been far and away the weirdest year of our lives.

It felt odd, on Monday, not to be doing a video. I'll do some more filming at some point, on a different project.

Otherwise, it's been a highly auspicious week.

Ramadan began, so the malls are decorating.

~{nilimage~=141846~;dir~=H~;alt~=vivacity~}
And so many communities celebrated New Year over the past few days: Thai and Tamil, Nepali and Sinhalese, and many more.

~{link~= https://www.firstpost.com/india/tamil-new-year-2021-date-significance-rituals-related-to-the-occasion-9523001.html ~;text~=Chittirai~;target~=chittirai~}; ~{link~= https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/religion/festivals/vishu-2021-kerala-new-year-date-rituals-and-significance/articleshow/82059512.cms ~;text~=Vishu~;target~=vishu~}; ~{link~= https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/happy-baisakhi-2021-vaisakhi-wishes-images-quotes-whatsapp-messages-status-and-photos-7270171/ ~;text~=Vaisakhi~;target~=vaisakhi~}; ~{link~= https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/fashion/gudi-padwa-and-ugadi-2021-date-significance-and-all-you-need-to-know-101618289325988.html ~;text~=Ugadi and Gudi Padwa~;target~=gudipadwa~}; ~{link~= https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/festivals/shubho-nabo-barsho-2021-date-and-history-of-pohela-boishakh-or-bengali-new-year-101618373906156.html ~;text~=Pohela Boishakh~;target~=pohelaboishakh~}; ~{link~= https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/rongali-bihu-2021-date-importance-significance-of-bihu-festival-7267866/ ~;text~=Rongali Bihu~;target~=rongalibihu~}; ~{link~= https://www.timesnownews.com/spiritual/religion/article/cheti-chand-2021-date-and-significance-everything-you-need-to-know-about-jhulelal-jayanti/743698 ~;text~=Cheti Chand~;target~=chetichand~}; ~{link~= https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/sawasdee-pi-mai-four-days-of-songkran-do-it-like-a-local ~;text~=Songkran~;target~=songkran~}...

~{nilimage~=109271~;dir~=H~;alt~=sk1~;caption~=Celebrating Songkran in Thailand in 2003~}
~{nilimage~=109272~;dir~=H~;alt~=sk2~}
~{nilimage~=109273~;dir~=V~;alt~=sk3~}
So many new beginnings. That has to be good for us all, surely?

We're sorely in need of new winds. Yesterday, Sarawak led Malaysia's covid tally, with a whacking 512 cases.

Our numbers have been so stubbornly high for so long that there was talk of a gear-shift from the CMCO that's blighted our lives since mid-January to a full-on MCO. The authorities have ~{link~= https://www.theborneopost.com/2021/04/15/cmco-to-continue-no-mco-for-kuching-miri-meradong-bintulu-and-sibu/ ~;text~=decided~;target~=nomco~} not to do that, but to stick with the current level of restrictions instead.

I hope they're doing the right thing... It's certainly worrying. With cases rising and no new initiatives, how are we to break the cycle?

Anyway, let's finish with some more pics from this week's gallery:

~{nilimage~=141844~;dir~=H~;alt~=mural~;caption~=A bit more of the Carpenter Street mural we saw the beginnings of ~{purplepost~=1208~;text~=back in March~;target~=mural~}~}
~{nilimage~=141843~;dir~=V~;alt~=window~;caption~=Window on Carpenter~}
~{nilimage~=141848~;dir~=H~;alt~=cheesecake~;caption~=Burnt cheesecake from Indah. Delicious...~}