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.”
I was thinking of travelling back to the homeland but this thread put a stake through that idea. Oh well.
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
@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.
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.
The quarantine hotel thing is a deal-breaker for me. Until it’s OK to home quarantine again, I’m just not leaving the country…unless a cross-strait war starts or something.
That’s smart. Unfortunately many of us were already out of the country, with plans to home quarantine upon return, when they changed the rule. Gotta love being stuck in one room and paying handsomely for the privilege while your home sits empty nearby, with all the provisions you stocked it with before departing.
i lost a bunch of weight in quarantine, i looked at it like a health retreat. just ordered fresh fruit and coffee, and 2 or 3 cheeseburgers for sanity
I would. I’d make a list of the ways that I felt my quarantine experience was akin to being locked up in prison, wherein at least you get 30 minutes of outdoor exercise or whatever each day, and then I would leave a one-star review for the hotel and probably dispute the transaction with the credit card company, citing that I was forced to stay there against my will, despite having my own apartment where I live alone, and that I stocked up on everything I need at home before leaving the country. It’s my understanding that none of the hotels will allow you to have laundry done for a cost (or allow you to send things to a friend to wash for you), that you need to wash everything by hand, and many aren’t even providing a second set of sheets or towels, so that you can either wash those by hand (and then not have anywhere to sleep while they take three days to dry) or have dirty bedding and the same towel for two weeks, in the middle of a pandemic.
I would absolutely pitch a fit. In the beginning, when the government provided the accommodation and you paid for the food, I think that was reasonable. When they made people stay home for two weeks and agree to electronic monitoring, that was reasonable. Forcing people to stay in a hotel at a jacked-up rate when they treat you like shit is not reasonable. We know this is about propping up the hotel industry and not about stopping the spread anymore, and I would absolutely make it known to everyone involved that this is unreasonable treatment for average people arriving during a pandemic. Especially when a lot of people went back to places like the US and got both doses of the vaccine before returning to TW.
Man, you keep talking about your crappy food, but from the photos you’re posting it looks way better than mine, and I didn’t even think mine was that bad. You must be at a classier joint! (And probably paying twice as much as me, which sucks.)
You’re obviously not Taiwanese. 
I agree with everything you say. It will take someone with some pull in the government to question this.
I’m sorry to hear your food was worse. I enjoyed the potato. The spaghetti was really greasy. No way I could eat that.
I had hoped the food would be better at 4600 per night. I do have plenty of fluffy towels and sheets. It’s clean and great wifi.
I guess just focus on that part . . . 
Guy
I don’t mind my food. Yours just looks higher-end from the photos. (Mine is more along the lines of typical Taiwanese takeout meal box stuff.) I realize that may or may not equate to better taste. I’ve got no problem with oil in pasta, though!
2800 per night here. Also clean and with good internet, but an older, simple, low budget kind of place. I wouldn’t pay more than 1500 for it under normal circumstances.
I received a lot of FB ads about that hotel’s lunch menu, especially the waffles chicken combo. I had it in my list of things to try…not anymore.
The waffle was gummy. The chicken coating was very thick and greasy. It made me hungry for real chicken and waffles.
Around the corner we have a nice waffle place, 55 NTD. I like the chocolate ones with fruit, I have whipped cream at home and drown it! The waffles are fluffy and not syrupy sweet.
We’ll have to go for waffles when I’m paroled! I’ll bring the fried chicken and maple syrup.
I decided not to wait for the hotel breakfast and prepared my own. raw veggies and dip, and boiled eggs.
And then I’ve received this notice from the hotel. They are trying to be nice. Seems like I’ll be permitted to order food now but only within certain hours. 4600 per night service…
Good. At least you’ll have more options now.
Guy
That seems like they’re making things up and saying it has something to do with the lockdown rules. Other hotels have always allowed food delivery; why would yours only allow it starting with level 2?
