THIS IS HOW YOU PANDEMIC - DAY02

Y’all. I received another quarantine swag bag last night! This time, from the government. Local authorities send care packages to everyone in quarantine, and calls you twice a day to check in on how you’re feeling. Everyone I talked to in these quarantine tracking calls has been INCREDIBLY courteous and kind, making sure I have everything I needed and check to see if I’m exhibiting any symptoms or have any questions. The swag bag included snacks, a box of oat cereal (y’know, to make sure the poops are good!) and about 2-3 dozen masks. They’ve been handing these out since the start of the pandemic.

Remember when the U.S. had a whole mask shortage? Yeah, that never happened here.

If Big Brother tracking me means they know where to send the swag bags, sign me up!

If Big Brother tracking me means they know where to send the swag bags, sign me up!

 

Day02 breakfast was still not the Taiwanese breakfast I craved. I could go off on a whole other tangent on the idea of the “western breakfast” here in Taiwan, but overall the “omelette” over fries with salad was not terrible.

The Taiwanese interpretation of “Western style” breakfast oftentimes involves “salad”, and/or fries. I liken it to the American interpretation of “Chinese food” which often involves "fried rice.”

The Taiwanese interpretation of “Western style” breakfast oftentimes involves “salad”, and/or fries. I liken it to the American interpretation of “Chinese food” which often involves "fried rice.”

 

Among many of Taiwan’s nickname, “The Kingdom of Fruit” is one that I, too often, took for granted. For instance, when I moved to Texas, I thought the Cutie oranges sold at HEB were kind of a joke; they’re annoying and hard to peel, and you have to eat like 7 of them to feel like you ate something. But then I realized it’s because I grew up eating these -

THIS is an orange. SO easy to peel. Practically peeled itself, really.

THIS is an orange. SO easy to peel. Practically peeled itself, really.

Yuuuuuge pieces. This orange alone can be a meal.

Yuuuuuge pieces. This orange alone can be a meal.

I got a little carried away and accidentally ordered what I thought was going to be just a little bit of fruit. Luckily, this all only set me back about $12.

Apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes, and guava. Plus plum powder packets for the guava and tomatoes. You haven’t lived if you haven’t tried plum powder on your fruits.

Apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes, and guava. Plus plum powder packets for the guava and tomatoes. You haven’t lived if you haven’t tried plum powder on your fruits.

 

I had a fairly productive Day02 today. I set up my work station despite having a sliver of table space. Yes, I had to lug my entire computer with me as I still had some projects to edit but my old laptop couldn’t handle all the footage. #WFHButAbroad

I wish I would’ve thought to bring the necessary cables to turn that hotel TV into a second monitor, but alas…

I wish I would’ve thought to bring the necessary cables to turn that hotel TV into a second monitor, but alas…

 

Lunch was pretty standard- Ginger poached chicken with veggies and fried egg. And more fruit!!

Pretty standard 便當

Pretty standard 便當

 

And dinner was a 便當(lunchbox) from the main flagship Howard Hotel (the boss of my current hotel Orange Hotel) - stir fried rice noodles with sweet&sour fish fillet, pork strips and veggies.

Just fattening up the pig for release into the judging arms of my Taiwanese family.

Just fattening up the pig for release into the judging arms of my Taiwanese family.

 

Post dinner, I had the absolute delight to catch up with filmmaker extraordinaire, Angela Chen, who also just landed in town and is quarantining in north Taipei! In the middle of our conversation, we both had to stop and take our temperatures to report back to the officials, and Angela took this very amusing but very pandemic/dystopian snapshot. Who would’ve thought two old friends, finally back in their motherland at the same time, would have to catch up with each other over video chat while monitoring their body temperatures for outbreak control? That being said, we both commented on how lucky and safe we feel to be in Taiwan right now, and lamented on the fact that we can’t have nice things in the U.S. because… *whines Myyyy Freeeeedoms!

Real friends take temperatures together. Screenshot by Angela Chen.

Real friends take temperatures together. Screenshot by Angela Chen.

 

Later in the evening I got a knock on my door, which usually means something has been dropped off, and lo and behold! My bounties from todays “OFY GO BUY” has arrived! (see Day01 post for info on “OFY GO BUY”) My sister, who’s quarantining down the hall from me, had the hotel staff share some of her snacks with me. So I guess I have to go look up more workout videos now.

I threw in a 6-pack of the “Double Fiber Green Tea.” The brand is famous for its claims of metabolizing fibers that help cut down fat and induce metabolism and digestion. You know what? Anything helps.

I threw in a 6-pack of the “Double Fiber Green Tea.” The brand is famous for its claims of metabolizing fibers that help cut down fat and induce metabolism and digestion. You know what? Anything helps.

 

All in all, not a bad Day02. Although it really feels like Day04 or Day05 already. But who’s counting? … (Me… I’M counting…)