The novel coronavirus that started in Wuhan, China in December has spread throughout the world. To date according Worldometers and news sites like CNN, more than 4,000 have died globally and over 113,000 people have been infected. In China alone, there are over 3,100 deaths and 80,000 over Covid-19 cases.
The virus – that’s transmitted from person to person via “droplet transmission” – has led to more of us staying home and also some celebs like Crash Landing on You star Son Ye-jin to reach deep into their pockets to help the outbreak in their various home countries.
From working out to binge-watching television shows to spending quality time with family, check out what Asian celebrities have been up to at home.
For actor Xu Bin, the circuit breaker has been a good break after a period of working for months at a stretch.
The 31-year-old, who is married with a son who will turn two in July, had worked on upcoming Mediacorp drama A Quest To Heal for six months. He was slated to start a new project last month, which has since been delayed.
He says: “The pandemic is of course very upsetting, but on the bright side, I’m glad to have time with my wife and son.”
It has not been easy keeping his active son entertained indoors, though.
He says: “We have to constantly find new activities to do, like puzzles, drawing and playing with our dog. I’ll hold him by the window and show him no one is at the playground, so it’s no fun for us to go there.
“But he likes playing with me a lot because I have the most strength and stamina to run after him all day.”
Being at home has also done wonders for his marriage to housewife Evelyn Wang, a Beijing Film Academy graduate.
Xu says: “We bake, make dumplings together. There are many activities we do together now and they have given us more chances to chat.”
Entertainment-wise, he has been catching up on popular dramas, such as last year’s hit Chinese period drama, Joy Of Life, starring Zhang Ruoyun, which is available on Hub Drama First (StarHub Channel 860) and StarHub Go Select.
Xu says: “I’m so impressed with him because he holds his own opposite great actors like Chen Daoming.”
The social media influencer and mother of five childrenhas been busy even though her main job of promoting home-based businesses has been disrupted by circuit breaker measures.
The 39-year-old, whose husband is an engineer in an essential service industry who still goes out for work, has been occupied with home-based learning (HBL) for her eldest daughter, who is in Secondary 1, and twin girls, who are in Primary 6.
Ms Diah, a former teacher, admits that getting kids to focus at home is difficult, but says it is important to stick to a routine.
She says: “When they have HBL, they’ll wake up, shower and get ready for classes. Now that we’re fasting, they don’t have lunch, so they do their prayers, rest a little and maybe explore and do some TikTok videos together.
“My older girls love TikTok, but I make sure they are not on their phones for more than an hour, and they have to give their phones to me when they’re done. Then they go back to reading and revising, or online tuition classes.”
For the circuit breaker period, Ms Diah bought new educational toys for her younger children – a three-year-old boy and a nine-month-old girl – and board games for her older girls. The items will also come in useful for the school holidays, which start on Tuesday.
“My husband plays board games with the girls, while I will watch a movie with them,” she says.
The family has also been cooking a lot more. She says: “The older ones will help me prepare to break fast and clean up after. It’s been an opportunity to bond with my kids.”
Mediacorp’s resident “hunkle” has not slacked off his fitness routine. He still works out twice a day
The 55-year-old actor and producer with a buff physique tells The Sunday Times: “In the morning, I do sit-ups and body-weight exercises for 15 to 30 minutes.”
Zheng, who says he does close to 300 sit-ups daily, then goes about his day, which includes watching television shows and the news.
He recently binge-watched the latest season of Spanish crime series Money Heist on Netflix.
Zheng, who is also a producer, says: “It’s so good. And it’s good for research, too, to see how they film, the way they frame their shots – the details are very good. We can learn from them.”
In the evening, he exercises again – skipping and boxing a punching bag.
He says: “For people who are new to working out from home, warm up before any routine to avoid injury. For a safe start, use only your body weight for exercises – like sit-ups, push-ups and squats.”
He also recommends skipping for those who have a rope at home. “Wear sports shoes for good support,” he adds.
“Listen to your body and know your limits, but don’t give up too easily.”
Zheng – who is married to actress Hong Huifang, with two children, Tay Ying and Calvert Tay – says the family members try their best to give one another space despite being under the same roof 24/7.
He says: “If one of us wants to be in a certain space for a time – like working at the dining table – we’ll say so and the rest will know not to disturb.”
The TV presenter is keeping busy – and sane – with yoga, home-cooked meals and time away from screens and gadgets.
The 38-year-old returned from California with her husband Robert Gaxiola before the mandatory 14-day stay-home notice was imposed on all returning travellers on March 20.
Keller, a certified yoga instructor, says: “I was scheduled to teach yoga at a gym here after I came back, but (to be safe) I stayed home for two weeks of my own accord.”
She still teaches yoga – up to six classes a day – via video conferencing. “I also run about 5km every alternate day from about 5am. There are not as many people out jogging at that time.”
Keller, who runs content production company KellerMedia with her husband, is also planning a training curriculum for public and on-camera speaking and presenting.
Upon her return to Singapore, she admits to binge-watching TV shows and being glued to news programmes.
“I was a bit depressed. I have family in the United States and was worried about them. I was on the couch all day just watching the news and getting afraid, and then I watched Netflix shows to cheer up. Eventually, I realised that cycle had to stop.
“I already have so much screen time coming up with my curriculum, so I need a break from it.”
Cooking is one way to peel herself away from the screen, though she says she has to watch that her diet remains healthy.
“I have a 70 per cent vegetarian diet and stay on legumes and beans for protein. I’ve been making a lot of dips as well. It’s really enjoyable.”
What has local singer Stefanie Sun been up to at home in a time of the coronavirus?
Well, letting the sun in to warm up her place (here’s Why Getting Outdoors For Some Sun And Fresh Air Will Be Good For You), according to Sun.
This was one of the eight things that could be done at home, said the singer in a series of photos posted on her social media accounts on Tuesday (March 24). Other activities are doing stretching, taking selfies (Check Out: Photo-Editing Apps That Korean Stars Like Yoona And Blackpink Use For Their Insta Feeds Every Day), growing plants, video chats, discovering new things online, playing peek-a-boo and reading.
She posted several photos of the above activities, including playing peek-a-boo with her daughter and several books on her shelf.
Her daughter appears for the first time in her photos, but her face cannot be seen clearly in them.
Sun, 41, is married to Dutch-Indonesian businessman Nadim van der Ros, and they have a seven-year-old son “Little Na” and a daughter who turns two in July.
Fellow local singer JJ Lin commented on her Instagram that she could write songs while staying at home. Sun released her last studio album, No. 13 – A Dancing Van Gogh, in 2017.
Sun will be celebrating her 20th year in show business this year, as she announced in January that her new concert tour will kick off in June. Details of the tour, including for the planned Singapore stop, have yet to be unveiled.
Looks like staying home is getting to even the best of us. Catch a glimpse of hottie Ben Kheng slowly start to question the important questions in life now that he has some time to himself. Know that you’re not alone if you’re on #stayathome day 6 and you’re feeling more than a little crazy.
And hey, ‘FAT’ does look like someone took a bit out of ‘EAT’.
@benjaminkhengCoronavirus has given me lots of time to think 😭 ##foryou ##foryoupage ##sgunited ##stayathome ##foreverbeautiful @Hà Lê your turn!♬ Forever Beautiful (33s) – Eric Chou , Cath Wong, Phil Lam, E.viewz, Sezairi, Jason Chan, Benjamin Kheng, Ben&Ben, Kelly Cheng, Narelle, Jocelyn C, NYK, Ha Le, Wafa Bahiyya Haneesa, Fatin
Beauty, lifestyle blogger Chriselle Lim has become known across the internet as ‘Your Rich Mom’ after serving killer looks in the classiest outfits. In typical mom fashion, she’s giving us tips on how to stay productive while self-isolating. From reading emails while working out, her skincare routine and even answering video conference calls.
Just goes to show that being stuck at home isn’t all that bad. You might even be more productive than if you were at the office.
@chrisellelimI’m way more productive at home anyways… ##lifeathome ##work ##worklife ##workfromhome ##covid19♬ Rocky Theme – Bill Conti
Despite being known for having a track record of sub-par acting performances, we cannot deny his devotion in keeping himself physically fit in all aspects. Making use of his time at home, the 42-year-old actor took to his mat and uploaded a challenge of him doing planks to the beat of music where he gradually increased his pace along with the music. Will you be able to keep up or give up?
One of the stars who was quick to jump on the bandwagon was Guan Xiao Tong, she showed her support to Huang Xiaoming’s video by encouraging her viewers to continue exercising during this period. Not only that, she filmed a video of the top five things that she does when being confined at home. The video showed her playing games non-stop, binge-watching reality television shows, zoning out, collecting deliveries and brushing her teeth lazily.
Being confined at home, the netizens took to their kitchen to showcase their amazing cooking skills. There were success stories and failures. Whether they were good cooks or bakers, they daringly flaunted their cooking skills online.
Among all of them, Xue Zhiqian decided to upload a tutorial of him teaching netizens how to make bun fillings and that started trending. From rolling of dough to baking, his humorous antics brought laughter to many, encouraging many to be optimistic despite the bleak outlook of the Covid-19 situation.
Speaking of culinary skills, Sheng Mengchen was a disaster waiting to happen. The scallion noodles that she made were begrudgingly left aside by her father. Meanwhile, her attire was surprisingly fitting to the occasion where many Chinese netizens resonate with having the ‘only set of pyjamas for the new year’ as some have worn it for over 10 days (since you do not sweat in the Winter). This inspired many to jump on the bandwagon to showcase their ‘most beautiful pyjamas’ on China platforms, where all the celebrities also started flaunting their pyjamas sets.
We gotta admit, Xu Kai is the epitome of bad hair day with his untrimmed mane sticking out in all areas (netizens labelled him as “entering the F4 era”). But stuck at home, what can he do right? Xu Kai even gave up shaving his beard knowing that he did not have to go out, successfully pulling off the bad boy look. Inspired by Huang Xiaoming’s video, he tried doing the plank-up challenge but failed miserably, igniting laughs from the netizens, who guessed that it seems like he hasn’t been working out.
Being an ambassador for having a good body figure, Crystal (Zhang Tianai) wasted no time at home. A mat and an abs wheel were all it took for her to stay focused and exercise. Besides that, Crystal also took this opportunity to do spring cleaning at home and that included ironing all kinds of clothes while watching dramas – this is multi-tasking at best to make full use of her time.
At least Sheng Mengchen had her makeup on, but when it comes to Jelly Lin (Lin Yun), her long untamed hair draped at the side gave a painfully realistic depiction of the scenario at home that people can relate to. In the video, she proceeds to “sleep walk” around her house, laze around in a daze, finally picked herself up to play with makeup. Despite all this, she was still bored and restless. Just hoping that the Covid-19 virus will go away soon.
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A version of this article was first published in The Straits Times and Nuyou.