Back in Hotel Q
Welcome to my random musings about the world, on a weekly-to-occasional basis.
Where we are: Bangkok, Thailand, where our quarantine room contains a gigantic television with eight news networks—both a blessing and a curse.
Back at the Hotel Q
Yes, we’re back in quarantine—this time in Bangkok. We haven’t seen the eldest of our offspring in two years (Two years! This mama is dying a little inside.), so here we are. We’ll spend fifteen nights at a Courtyard by Marriott, specially designated an ‘Alternative State Quarantine’ location by the government.
We had to get a Covid test before our flight, then we were tested again when we arrived at the hotel. Both of those were negative. We’ll be tested twice more before our release; if either of those comes back positive, we’ll be transferred to the hospital for a mandatory ten-day stay, symptoms or no symptoms. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. Also, pro tip: if you’re going to get tested a bunch of times in a couple of weeks, maybe ask the nurse to alternate nostrils. My sinuses are beginning to feel a little unbalanced (like the rest of me).
We have a very nice room—much nicer than the dorm room we had for our April quarantine at the Korean Youth Facility. Three times a day, meals are left outside our door for us to collect. We get to pre-order (online, of course) from a list of three or four set menus. It all feels quite luxurious, relatively speaking. I haven’t been served a single beef salad for my (vegetarian) breakfast. And there have been no tentacles in my (vegetarian) lunch.
In our last quarantine, I did yoga every day, but Lee did not. When we were released, his legs were a bit wobbly for a couple of days (did I laugh at him? Probably. I’m not very nice.). So this time he’s doing a lot of intermittent exercising throughout the day as well—we brought some resistance bands with us, and the hotel has provided yoga mats. Every now and again, he jumps up and does a bunch of squats or lunges. Of course, I did a very intense Vinyasa flow yesterday (our second day) and hurt my back, so he’s the one laughing now.
Our other big activity yesterday was scrubbing our sneakers. It was very exciting! First we used Clorox wipes (taking turns sitting in the shower to do this) to scrub off any nastiness, then we used a stiff toothbrush and soapy water to really get into the treads. The bottoms of our sneakers are very, very clean now.
So in case you were thinking your life was dull—it could be worse! You could be detailing the bottoms of your sneakers!
[Note: there was a reason. We’d both like to be able to do some exercising that requires shoes, and in this part of the world, outdoor shoes in an indoor space are a big no-no. Plus there’s no housekeeping, obviously, because #quarantine, so we don’t want to get the floor dirty. Of course, now my back hurts . . . Silly me.]
The only problem with all this ease and comfort in quarantine is that I got overly ambitious this morning. We can communicate via Line with the front desk (Line is the most popular messaging app in Thailand), and this being Thailand, the responses are very, very hospitable and kind. But then there’s the translation issue . . .
I was about to place my meal order for tomorrow, and was unenthusiastic about the vegetarian options, when I saw a button I hadn’t previously paid attention to: click here for kid’s menu. So I clicked. And I immediately wanted waffles for breakfast and spaghetti for lunch. I guess I’m really a six-year-old in adult clothing.
Here’s what I messaged to the front desk: “I have an odd question. Do you know if the portion sizes of the kid’s menu are much smaller than the adult menu?”
(Because, while I would love some waffles, I don’t want to inadvertently get the tiny little meals that are usually served to children. I do have an actual adult-sized appetite.)
Too many words. When will I ever learn?
Her response? “No worry I can tell chef to make it smaller for you.”
So if you need me, I’ll just be over here at Hotel Q, kicking myself for flying too close to the sun. And probably not gaining quarantine weight.
From my writer’s notebook:
I read an article the other day on Atlas Obscura (if you don’t know the website, check it out) about glassware used by the Scottish Jacobites in the 18th century. Symbols etched on the glass—a rose, an oak leaf, a star, and a thorny stem—indicated the household’s loyalty to the exiled James II, living in France, and his son and grandson. Equally sneaky was the toast often made: a dedicated Jacobite would pass the glass over a finger bowl, indicating loyalty to the ‘king over the water.’
The Jacobite uprising (which ended at the Battle of Culloden in 1746) has inspired a wealth of art and writing, as well as the cultural identity that connects the Scottish diaspora all over the world, but the mystique never fades. Symbols, hidden in plain sight. Coded social cues. Lost causes. This is the stuff that draws me into a book.
What draws YOU in?
Take care,
Lisa
P.S. Thanks for reading, and feel free to share. If you have feedback, I’d love to hear it. And if someone forwarded this to you, thank them for me, and go to https://bookwoman.com/ to subscribe.