THIS IS HOW YOU PANDEMIC - DAY 07

“O-oooooh! We’re half way there. Wo-OH! Livin’ on a prayer!”

Bon Jovi was a pretty big deal in Taiwan growing up. I’d be lying if I said I don’t secretly enjoy it when Jeff would sometimes, out of nowhere, bust into this song, always with the fist pumping. But please don’t tell him I said that though. Please. For the sake of our union.

Ok. Day 07, y’all. Finally feeling like I’m making some headway. I also think I’m running out of things to blog about. Do y’all have any questions? Things you’d like to know or have answered? Like, is there laundry service (no) and if not, do I just walk around naked the whole time so I don’t have to wash too many clothes? (Maybe) Or what life can be like living in a country where people cared about each other and make concerted efforts to make sure their people don’t die unnecessarily from a global pandemic? (Pretty damn good) Hit me up in comments, or DM me. I need to occupy my time between renders and downloads anyways.

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I was up at 6am today (HOORAY for sleeping past 5am!) and opened the window for some morning air. GUESS WHO WAS ALREADY UP AND GETTING HIS FRUITS? (Or maybe he hasn’t even gone to bed yet)

That’s right.

Dude either hasn’t gone home yet, or dresses like that everyday. Good for him.

Dude either hasn’t gone home yet, or dresses like that everyday. Good for him.

 

I don’t know if you can see, but he literally just buys like two things of fruit every time. Or maybe, shall we say - two things of “fruit”? *wink wink

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Breakfast was… um… a WHOLE HOT DOG.

Hot dog and black tea. Breakfast of champions. HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPIONS.

Hot dog and black tea. Breakfast of champions. HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPIONS.

 

It’s like the hotel is afraid you’re not eating enough in the morning to sustain a whole day of SITTING AND LYING DOWN IN THE ROOM. Which brings me to lunch.

When I opened the door to lunch, I was so excited I literally yelped.

八方雲集 is a famous pot sticker chain in Taiwan. They’re SO CHEAP and SO DELICIOUS. It used to be like $5 NTD per pot sticker (that’s like… 20 cents?) and as a poor college student I can go there, order 15 pot stickers and a corn soup for under $4 USD. I was there A LOT. So you can imagine my excitement when a box of 八方雲集 was sitting in front of my doorstep.

Soup and pot sticker combo is a MUST. And their corn soup is *chef’s kiss.

Soup and pot sticker combo is a MUST. And their corn soup is *chef’s kiss.

 

So imagine my face when I giddily opened up my lunch to find THIS.

I swear to god, I think the hotel is trolling me at this point.

I swear to god, I think the hotel is trolling me at this point.

 
Drench it in curry!
 

Ok, bear with me for a hot second while I’m being ungrateful for food delivered to my door.

Now, 八方雲集 also sells dumplings. They didn’t when I was in school; they specialized in pot stickers. But as the company grew, obviously they branched out, and now they have a variety of dumpling flavors, all quite good and quite popular. BUT POT STICKERS ARE THEIR STAPLE! WHY WOULD YOU NOT ORDER POT STICKERS FROM A FAMOUS POT STICKERS PLACE? To put it in Austin terms, it’d be like going to P.Terry’s and ordering the “chicken burger” and not the double with cheese!! And so I begrudgingly scarfed down my absolutely delicious dumplings, cursing with every bite.

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Right before lunch, I received a message from the hotel.

Someone might have to tell them that if the movie starts at13:25 (1:25pm for all you non-24 hour heathens), then I don’t think it counts as Movie “Night”?

Someone might have to tell them that if the movie starts at13:25 (1:25pm for all you non-24 hour heathens), then I don’t think it counts as Movie “Night”?

 

Apparently, they do this every Saturday. While the hotel trolls people like me with their meal choices, they actually go out of their way to make your quarantine experience as pleasant as possible. They’re really, really thoughtful, y’all. That being said, no-thank-you on GEOSTORM. I grabbed the snacks and made my own “movie night” without the “movie” or the “night”. So… just… “reading while eating fries in daytime.”

I do give the hotel a lot of credit for making the quarantine experience as fun as possible.

I do give the hotel a lot of credit for making the quarantine experience as fun as possible.

I don’t think y’all are going to like dinner. It doesn’t photograph well but it’s really not bad. Also, I don’t really know how to translate this dish to English without sounding like an idiot, so I’m just going to say it’s Mushroom Beef Tenderloin Pasta with Sunny Side Up Egg. (How would you translate 鐵板麵? Anyone?)

 

Ok. So yesterday I left y’all with a “puzzle” at the end of the post. For those of you who still want to figure it out yourself, you’re more than welcome to head back to DAY 06 to check it out.

So here is what’s missing from the emergency exit sign to the rooms -

Some rooms are in the Upside Down.

Some rooms are in the Upside Down.

 

In Mandarin, the number 4 is 四, which sounds like the word for “death” 死; they’re pronounced the same but in different tones. Therefore, in Chinese culture, you’ll find that we skip the number 4 when it comes to a lot of things; there usually isn’t a 4th floor in buildings; you wouldn’t want too many 4’s in your phone number; definitely don’t want to live in apt/house number 4’s; absolutely no rooms with 4’s in hotels; and if you’re born on April 4th, well then you’re just fucked and you should blame your mom for not holding out just a little longer (I’m kidding… or AM I???) As I was reading my emergency exit sign (yes, I was THAT bored) I noticed that the hotel didn’t leave all y’all white people out either— they made sure to leave out the 13’s as well! Isn’t this just the most considerate hotel? Pats on the back for everyone for not having to stay in rooms that insinuates our demise or may lead you to Lucifer’s boudoir!!

And just an extra tidbit, the number 8 is 八, which sounds like the word “發“, which colloquially means “to profit” or “have good fortune.” So make sure to have plenty of 8’s in your life!