Out of a pandemic, tales of personal growth

THE husband looks askance at the pot of beef stew that I'm stirring. "What's that black goop?" he asks, on his face a look of disdain. Not that I blame him, after giving him indigestion with rock-hard grilled pumpkin the night before.

This was us when the circuit breaker happened, a mere two months after our wedding. Suddenly, from barely seeing each other due to our different working hours, we were pretty much confined to our flat 24/7.

And it was tough getting used to having your other half as your live-in colleague - me typing into the wee hours of the morning, and him taking work calls as early as seven. It took a lot of adjustments. But over the months, the interrupted normality allowed us to learn more about ourselves, and each other. For example, I have always enjoyed baking, but not so much cooking. However, the past few months have thrown me out of my comfort zone.