Quarantine - Days 1-3

I am currently sitting at a floor to ceiling hotel window, looking out at a gray, cloudy sky that is spitting out lightning and intermittent rain showers. Tall apartment buildings, cranes, and a construction site. Green leafy trees lining the roads that are lightly flowing with afternoon traffic. A familiar scene anywhere in the world, particularly back in Seattle. 

But we're not in Seattle anymore. Life has evolved and put a new opportunity in front of us. Earlier this year, in the midst of Covid and the upheaval of 2020, Marcus got promoted to Chief Regional Counsel of Southeast Asia. It had been an opportunity we were aware of back in January, but when Covid hit, all of our plans (like those of everyone else in the world) went up in smoke. We were surprised when the actual offer came through, and even when it did we knew there would be significant immigration hurdles to overcome. By the time we made it past those hurdles, it felt like our relocation was a rumor rather than a reality, and it's taking time to fully realize that the move to Singapore is real. 

The weeks leading up to the move were a whirlwind of activity, and while emotionally I could process that we were leaving (saying goodbye to friends and family is hard), I don't think I've quite digested the new reality. It'll happen over time. Two weeks of quarantine will certainly help. Oh yes, we are in quarantine. This hotel is otherwise known as our state-sanctioned isolation facility. Excellent terminology that is not scary at all.

The word quarantine brings up mental images of immigrants in the distant past, to places like Ellis Island and Manly. Quarantine always struck me as something that was more conceptual, a thing that would remain a thing of the past. Or at least would never be something relevant to me. Yet here I am, on day three of our 14 days in quarantine. I heard awful stories of other people's quarantine experiences. Families being separated into different rooms, unable to see each other. The same meals being served three times a day (chicken and rice for breakfast?). Groceries being confiscated. My bar was set pretty low.

When we arrived at Changi Airport yesterday morning, it was eerily quiet. Quiet other than the staff members spaced every 20 meters, waiting to guide in the correct direction. The immigration officer was a little snappy and unimpressed, and provided us with yellow dot stickers to affix to the right hand side of our chests. Very specific. It felt odd to be stickered.

After collecting our bags, it was suggested that we use the rest room (which indicated who knows how long of a wait before we would arrive at our final destination). Then we were ushered through another checkpoint and onto a shuttle bus. There weren't many people on our bus and of course I had zero sense of what direction we were headed in. We went down the freeway passing a continuous series of tall buildings. A few schools and outdoor exercise areas. Then after what seemed like a half hour, we got off the freeway and ended up passing the botanical gardens--which I took as a good sign since they're close to some nicer areas of the city. Then I saw the hotel with its restaurant signage underneath and got a little excited. It was the same kind of signs that we saw plastered all over the resorts in Cancun--fancy hotels with separate signs to call out their notable restaurants. When I saw the chandelier by the door, it further confirmed what I hoped to be true.

The Regent is a five-star hotel and it is, in fact, quite lovely. We were ushered in through a side door and into a sort of waiting room where we had to fill out paperwork before being taken to our rooms. That sounds a little ominous, but when I say get taken to our rooms, I mean we were shown to our rooms by a hotel staff member who pushed the trolley full of our suitcases up to the room. He was very kind and the staff were all friendly. Which felt good considering the whole "quarantine" thing. That side entrance also makes me wonder if there are actual customers staying here, and if it would taint their experience to know that they're staying in the same venue as potentially the most Covid-dangerous people in Singapore. Seriously.

Last week, I got this text from the wife of one of Marcus's coworkers:

Of the three new cases of Covid that day, two were imported. 66% of the Covid cases were imported, meaning that the Covid risk in Singapore comes more from outsiders entering the country than people within the country transmitting it to each other. Which pretty much justifies the mandatory quarantine. 

Let's put this into a little more perspective. 

The number of Covid deaths per million is far lower in Singapore than in the US, and the testing rates in Singapore are higher. They have gotten a far better grasp on things to the point that they're moving into the next stage of reopening. It's true that the numbers aren't totally comparable. Singapore has a population of 5.6 million in contrast to the US's 328 million, so the scale is of a different magnitude. It's easier to test 5.6 million people than testing ~60x that number. 

All of that to say. It feels good to be in a country where the number of locally-transmitted Covid cases was 0 for the past three days. It feels safer here, and not just because I won't see someone other than Marcus for the next two weeks.

So what have we been doing during quarantine? 

We arrived on Sunday morning and started the day by unpacking and running giddily around our two rooms. That's right, two rooms. These wonderful humans asked us if we needed two rooms (would we be working? yes!) and while I was stunned at the generosity, Marcus quickly snapped up the offer. Right move. Two rooms!! 

Here's our "main" room where we sleep, eat, watch TV, and where I spend the majority of my day.

And here's our other room, which is pretty much Marcus's office (and where, if I walk in unannounced, he may or may not give me a shit stare that tells me I'm trespassing--then apologize for later, saying it was actually a look of confusion that he knew would get construed as a shit stare, and he didn't mean it!). Ha! Quarantine life.

There's enough room to pace like an animal in the zoo (been there) and to do yoga, online workout videos, and a TRX workout (done that). 

We were also delighted to get a breakfast drop off shortly after our internment. 

A nice little continental breakfast (with the addition of some very tasty granola a dear friend gave us before we flew out). It's the same every day with some flavor changes--different fruit, jam, and yogurt flavors. The food has been a pleasant surprise, and while we only have two options for lunch and dinner (vegetarian/non-vegetarian), the quality is better than what I'd expect to receive with takeout.

Guilty pleasure, I am very pleased with the addition of Oreos and cheesy Ritz crackers to our lunches. They're things I wouldn't necessarily buy, but will happily eat if someone else puts it in front of me. It's also a wonderful change to not have to meal plan or shop for groceries. Someone else makes the decisions and I eat accordingly. Done. Love this game. 

Other than waiting around for our food drop-offs and trying to figure out the right portion control (and failing), we are discovering what the local cable stations have to offer. Australian Masterchef and the kid version of the Great British Bake Off are awfully distracting. We're also tying up loose ends back home and juggling new phone numbers with WhatsApp, iTexting (or whatever it's really called), Google Voice, and Skype. Trying to figure out how to get access to online banking with new phone numbers. 

There's also downloading the Singapore government app for quarantine monitoring. The app monitors our location at all times and we have to report in three times per day with our temperature, a selfie, and whether or not we're having any Covid symptoms. We also have to be available for the government to call and check in on us. We both received our first calls today--from the same guy who was like, "I think I just talked to your wife!" when he talked to Marcus. 

Marcus is also working, and I'm gingerly moving into the networking and job search space. I also did my first round of online grocery shopping, which is overwhelming. Looking at shelves of the same kind of item is somehow more digestible than staring at a screen with rows and rows of the same item. It took about an hour of looking through before I started our basket, then after leaving it for 15 minutes, the basket emptied. That was a minor devastation, and saw me put off the grocery shopping for another day.

Luckily, we decided to add some chocolate to the new order and what did I find?

Gendered Kinder eggs!! Who knew?! I can't wait to see what other special nuggets are in store.

Well, that seems like plenty for a first post (of this latest life chapter, anyway).