She said the government helped her book it.
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That is my exact fear for my return flight in early October.
USA is already at 80+% of new cases from Delta virus.
So logically, USA should already be considered “high risk” by Taiwan’s CECC. Its probably only kept off the high-risk list for political reasons.
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I wish I set up my home as an Airbnb.
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I hear you. I do think it is one step further to get government approval. I heard they have to qualify somehow.
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What do they do about new sheets, towels, etc? Assume maid service is out. Do they leave a package of linens outside your door and you change your own sheets?
And how is the handoff handled for all the meals and deliveries? Does somebody knock on the door and hand you something, thereby breaking the purpose of a quarantine? Are they left outside your door for you to pick them up? There was a story of a Pilipino migrant worker getting fined for spending 8 seconds or something outside his quarantine door so how can everybody else get new supplies?
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I can only speak for the Amba Zhongshan so I don’t know if all hotels are doing this. They put a lot of sheets and towels in the room, and bunches of toilet paper and tissues. There’s a special bag to put them in and I can request more.
Meals are delivered to a little table at your door, and then they call to inform you the meal is delivered. At the breakfast and lunch call, they ask for your temperature.
There’s special trash bags for putting everything in and a basket within arms reach to put the trash bag in. They collect the trash from 8-9:30pm.
They also left a good supply of coffee and tea, a case of bottled water, and some dish soap, laundry soap, cleaning alcohol, and surface cleaner.
I ordered a paper notebook today and they brought it with lunch.
I think about that migrant worker when I open the door. My feet don’t leave the room.
One bizarre item in the room is a safe for valuables.
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That’s really bad.
They take the temperature or you do and report it? If they do it they are presumably within arms length of you.
So you must open the door to get meals and take out the trash but you can do so without stepping outside? Still means you would be breathing out into the hallway. Is the whole floor quarantine “guests”? Not that it would make any difference in the event of possibly spreading virus.
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They put a thermometer in the room, so we report our temperatures. At day 10, I’ve got a rapid test to do and report. Then at day 12, they arrange for a taxi for the final PCR test. At 12:05 am on day 15, I’m outta here!
I guess they could cut a hole in the bottom of the door and slide meals through…
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Does anyone know how it works with the quarantine system if you’ve recently transited a high-risk area? I’ll be flying from Germany but I’ll have been in the UK recently due to transit within the last 14 days of my departure towards Taiwan from Germany.
I understand that I will fill in a form 48 hours prior to my departure which I will have to list where I’ve been. Other than that will there be any other evidence I will need to provide? Because from what I understand is because of my UK transit I shouldn’t book a hotel because I’ll need to stay in a government facility?
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Prison style!
Or maybe drone delivery to the window?
Assume you couldn’t take a balcony room as that would be “outside” of your quarantine, even with a mask on.
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I got the idea for my basket for deliveries from a news report of someone who actually lowered a basket from a second floor for the Uber/Panda guys to put the food in.
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It sounds like some hotels think they signed up for the Standford prison experiment.
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My windows don’t open. Nice picture windows with a good view. So the basket drop won’t work for me. 
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I guess the part that sucks is the expense for captivity and crappy food. They don’t have to compete on quality or service because I’m basically a hostage.
Tonight’s meal was greasy spaghetti and a baked potato. The potato tasted great and I ate some of the meat from the spaghetti. I am very glad to have had my fresh veg box from Carrefour.
I did ask for drinks without sugar and they did change to unsweetened tea for me. Before they were sending sugary sodas and those 10% juice boxes.
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I wonder if asking them to deliver actual plates for you to use would help. It shouldn’t make a difference, but man, eating out of lunchboxes day after day must get dispiriting. Even the action of putting the meal out on a plate may make things feel slightly less awful.
It’s a different situation of course, but these “rules” were set early during my wife’s time of work from home: “No. We are not going to eat this meal out of boxes. We are going to move it to plates, at the very least.”
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I was thinking of travelling back to the homeland but this thread put a stake through that idea. Oh well.
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There is an emotional element to eating that people forget about. It’s why the ISS receives real food prepared by real chefs (even if very packaged). It’s also why they didn’t invent a “nutrition pill” for astronauts to take instead of eating. It’s also why the ISS is now experimenting with growing peppers in space. There is a human need to chew up and swallow the things that provide nutrients to our bodies and they need to taste good.
Making a positive emotional connection to your meal can be the difference between your brain going into starvation mode and feeling satisfied. I agree that dumping it out of the box and onto a plate (and eating with real utensils) could be a step up. Also, calling/video chatting with a friend while you eat. I’ve seen scientific papers showing that social satisfaction affects the body’s actual response to fullness.
I’m sure food panda has some grocery store with plates available for delivery, even if they are paper
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@Brianjones It was worth this to see my family. I hadn’t seen them in two years and I didn’t realize how much we needed to reconnect.
I never thought about the emotional element, but there definitely is. Being fed and treated like a leper is similar to being fed like a dog. After the food is delivered, someone calls to inform me. They could just add a dog bowl and a buzzer to the room to inform. haha. I grew up in the country. The nearby neighbor kid and I would help each other feed and water the chickens, pigs, cows, horses…
I rarely eat food from a buffet because it usually isn’t fresh. This food arrives in the box and it is lukewarm like food delivered in a hospital. They have provided a plate in the room and good silverware. Honestly, it tastes so bad that I open the box and pick a few things out and just close it for the wastebasket.
I’m doing exercise videos, Chinese classes and working with customers. Several friends text and call.
I don’t think anyone has the courage to question the quarantine at overpriced hotels or even complain about the expense. One of my friends said that no one wants to be seen as going against the government.
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No doubt you are making the best of it.
I’ve thought it over and it sucks anyway I cut it, to see my family on one side I can’t see my family here for what would be an extended period including lockdown. I wouldn’t be able to be away long enough to justify it. And I would have that quarantine hanging over me all the time , waiting…I really dislike being on my own for long periods .
I must postpone till next year when timing is more optimum.
An extended quarantine in a room is pretty much the only thing that could block me. Money, arduous travel for days , I can deal with that. A quarantine at home I could deal with. One week quarantine I could suck it up. But I’m not confident of doing two weeks. Tough year.
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