quarantining in Taiwan

Day 5! Woo hoo! 1/3 of the way through our 15-day Taipei quarantine! (They start counting at midnight the day you arrive, so "two weeks" is often more like 15 days, depending on what time of day you arrive.) Here's my brain dump (long message ahead!) in case some of it might be helpful-- especially for those quarantining with kids!

Also, after waiting three months to get to Taiwan, I think I might be the most excited to finally "get" to quarantine after all. 

So, it took us 2 hours to get out of the airport, but we knew what to expect, so it was fine. Got the SIM cards, did the health declarations, made sure that we had no meat (very thorough search! They even had me crack our two hard-boiled eggs to make sure they were cooked! We would have been fined had they not been!), went through immigration, get our saliva COVID tests outside, got sprayed with a mist of alcohol (purchased these plastic suitcase protectors, but don't think they were necessary-- and it was nice to be sprayed on a hot day), and then (thanks to the Quarantine Support in Taiwan facebook group!) we told them we wanted a big van taxi and only waited a few minutes for a van to show up that fit our luggage (2 big, 2 medium, 2 small, plus several bags/odds/ends) and us (two adults and two kids across three seats). Super nice to be able to go all together and pay 1000NT (instead of 2000NT to go separately).

We didn't get cash at the airport because my debit card was buried (oops), but we paid for everything with my Chase Visa, and it was all super smooth. We've been at the Aloft, and the food has generally been great. (Maybe too good? My other post on gaining/losing/maintaining weight on the quarantine fb group showed the consensus was that most gained weight during quarantine!)

Also, by not being able to come in July as originally planned, we now have two adjoining rooms, which has been great. If we'd been here in August as was the plan the 2nd or 3rd time we were scheduled to come to Taiwan, my husband and I would have celebrated our wedding anniversary over zoom from separate hotel rooms! Needless to say, this is WAY better.

The room I picked (the cheaper option with city view vs. plains view, bento vs. a la carte) is 3600NT/night, and the additional child per room is another 1500NT/night. Funny enough, the person who initially told me this mistyped that it was an additional 15000/night, and I nearly lost it! Ha! But it got cleared up, so while not cheap, it wasn't as expensive as it could have been.

My officer calls every day, and we talk for about 12 seconds. He asks if we're fine, I say yes, and that's it. My partner gets texted every day (maybe because he's an English speaker, and after calling the first day and talking with me, they just texted him after that-- ha!), and it's the same easy procedure where he texts that he's fine.

We ordered groceries through Carrefour (fruit, milk, sponges, mouthwash), and it was a breeze.

All in all, quarantine's been going great. Whoever said it was more or less like your normal life (without putting shoes on or going outside) was totally right.

We brought some workbooks, activity books, etc. for the kids, and they've been fine. We also used empty water bottles for bowling, and that was a hit with both kids. 

We listen to Harry Potter (audiobook), let the kids watch some cartoons in Chinese (about 1/2 hour a day), and honestly, the meals and afternoon tea break up the day (and are so exciting! Who knows what will come next?!), so the kids are generally happy. We put trash out between 330-4pm, and it all goes smoothly. The highlight of each day seems to be the doorbell and polite little knock at 8am, 12pm, 230pm (tea), and 6pm.

Today, we got French toast for breakfast. Yesterday, we got dim sum where this bun that looked just like a real portobello mushroom was actually a sesame dessert bun. It even had a little white stem!

WHAT?! During quarantine? Let's just say the food has been a pleasant surprise. I'd seen an aloft video posted online, and I thought we'd be having rice congee soup for breakfast every morning and some rendition of meat/rice/veggies in a bento box for every meal. Instead, we had a delicious (slightly spicy, even!) Thai curry last night, Japanese sushi rice bento the night before, spaghetti the night before that...

We've started doing what we call our "bento adventure," and it has literally saved me from the suffering parents endure from kids during mealtime. Instead of grimacing/pouting/cowering away from the table, my formerly picky 6-year-old will now try something from each compartment of our bento box and give us one word to describe it (anything from taste to texture to whatever!), and it's been a total game-changer. I will forever be grateful to quarantine for this new way of eating together as a family. (Then, after a successful bento adventure, we can listen to more Harry Potter.)

We're also doing gonoodle videos (meatball and not dog time machine are our favorites-- they're basically these silly videos of walking and "dodging"/jumping over obstacles, so super kid-friendly!) and Cosmic Kids yoga to "stay active" (as much as is possible), and sometimes, we do yoga or walk around while listening to Harry Potter. Just change directions every time someone says "Harry," and it feels like a fun game.

(Oh, and we have the Harry Potter movie collection, so when we finish listening to book 7, we'll start watching the movies.)

OH! And I forgot what might be the most useful thing! We put two ironing boards together to make a "dining area" with two desk chairs and two stools, so we have a place to eat together, and this has worked great for us. (I threw a sarong over it as a tablecloth and to keep the ironing boards clean.)

TLDR: I'm pleasantly surprised to say quarantine has been MUCH better than expected, so I'd be happy to help anyone else if I can! Let me know if I can answer any questions for you!