COMMENTARY, July 31 -- My friends are such a joy to me. Every time they groan and bemoan something or another, I see things with fresh eyes. I learn something new.

This week, the topic of their discontent is not being able to travel. And by travel, they don't mean not being able to taste charcoal-baked gong bian biscuits in Sitiawan or char kway teow in Penang, full of wok hei.

No, they mean not being able to hunt down the best flat white in Melbourne. Not being able to travel means missing the sakura season in Japan and tasting freshly fried pad Thai from a Bangkok street vendor.

But why can't we just go on excursions within our own country, especially now that interstate travel is allowed during the Recovery Movement Control Order (R...