What's for dinner? Food is a big topic in QT circles. My partner and daughter will tell you I can survive on anything; I'm not super picky. I love good food, and I can live without it for a spell. Given that, I wasn't as worried about food as some folks who have dietary restrictions might be. I brought a few packets of instant noodles and coffee, tea, chia seeds, nuts, and some "greens" supplements, figuring that I wasn't going to get lots of salads. But other than that, I entered this experience confident I wouldn't go hungry.
That being said, the food in QT, in both the hotels I've been in, has been great! We get three meals a day in a bento dish, always with a big serving of fluffy white rice. Actually, the volume of rice was the subject of a flurry of action our our resident WeChat chat last night-- a number of folks suggested that the hotel can back off the rice a little-- it's so much. The hotel staff agreed to make individualized adjustments (from what I can understand from the translated messages). It was so cool that folks were recognizing the waste; I found the conservation mindset from my fellow quarantineers* delightful!
In addition to varying quantity of the carb intake, the hotel staff offered us "Chinese medicine anti-viral treatment". I am excited to learn more about Chinese medicine-- having dabbled in that in Honolulu. I eagerly raised my emoji hand and said: yes! I'd love to have the anti-viral treatment. The "treatment" arrived in a biohazard bag-- a three day treatment of two drinks a day. The bag contained 6 plastic packages of a green-ish fluid that smells like a combination of compost, bark, and frankensense (to my untrained nose). It doesn't taste what you might call "good" but it isn't too hard to get down either. Hey, I'll take any anti-viral help I can get! I've had three "treatments" so far and notice no ill-effects (@Mom).
I brought instant coffee, which is fine and I've been enjoying lots of different teas (mostly collected from the hotels and airport lounges I've been in since I left home) which is a delightful way to pass the hours. I've also been drinking lots of water and was able to request big jugs of water as opposed to the small plastic bottles. It's okay to boil tap water for drinking, but better to drink bottled water otherwise.
In the morning after my workout I boil water and make a coffee. I also mix up the "greens" supplement and a couple tablespoons of chia seeds in a water bottle and put it in the fridge for later. (Sounds like I am fortunate to have gotten a fridge in both my hotels, not all places have that). I also brought some hydration mix that I brought in my med kit (it makes something that tastes kinda like gatorade without the sugar), and have been dipping in to that just for fun.
Back to the yummy bentos. I'm not going to say I have loved EVERY dish served, but I tasted them all and most are super good. For lunch and dinner there is usually a soup/ broth of some sort, a veggie, a meat dish or two and some pickled veggies, alongside the rice. Breakfast has a small container of drinkable yogurt (the label says fermented milk), some rice porridge, veggies, a piece of sweet potato (or once so far, a big steamed piece of a monster carrot), a manapua (steamed roll with meat of veggies inside), toast, and a and a hard boiled egg. It sounds like more than it is, but it is tiny portions of each thing (save the rice). Some meals have also come with some fruit, an apple or pear and thanks to the fruit my colleagues sent to the first hotel, I have plenty of fruit. So far, halfway (*knock wood) through this experience, I'm not at all bored of the food.
*attempted neologism, not a typo
That being said, the food in QT, in both the hotels I've been in, has been great! We get three meals a day in a bento dish, always with a big serving of fluffy white rice. Actually, the volume of rice was the subject of a flurry of action our our resident WeChat chat last night-- a number of folks suggested that the hotel can back off the rice a little-- it's so much. The hotel staff agreed to make individualized adjustments (from what I can understand from the translated messages). It was so cool that folks were recognizing the waste; I found the conservation mindset from my fellow quarantineers* delightful!
In addition to varying quantity of the carb intake, the hotel staff offered us "Chinese medicine anti-viral treatment". I am excited to learn more about Chinese medicine-- having dabbled in that in Honolulu. I eagerly raised my emoji hand and said: yes! I'd love to have the anti-viral treatment. The "treatment" arrived in a biohazard bag-- a three day treatment of two drinks a day. The bag contained 6 plastic packages of a green-ish fluid that smells like a combination of compost, bark, and frankensense (to my untrained nose). It doesn't taste what you might call "good" but it isn't too hard to get down either. Hey, I'll take any anti-viral help I can get! I've had three "treatments" so far and notice no ill-effects (@Mom).
I brought instant coffee, which is fine and I've been enjoying lots of different teas (mostly collected from the hotels and airport lounges I've been in since I left home) which is a delightful way to pass the hours. I've also been drinking lots of water and was able to request big jugs of water as opposed to the small plastic bottles. It's okay to boil tap water for drinking, but better to drink bottled water otherwise.
In the morning after my workout I boil water and make a coffee. I also mix up the "greens" supplement and a couple tablespoons of chia seeds in a water bottle and put it in the fridge for later. (Sounds like I am fortunate to have gotten a fridge in both my hotels, not all places have that). I also brought some hydration mix that I brought in my med kit (it makes something that tastes kinda like gatorade without the sugar), and have been dipping in to that just for fun.
Back to the yummy bentos. I'm not going to say I have loved EVERY dish served, but I tasted them all and most are super good. For lunch and dinner there is usually a soup/ broth of some sort, a veggie, a meat dish or two and some pickled veggies, alongside the rice. Breakfast has a small container of drinkable yogurt (the label says fermented milk), some rice porridge, veggies, a piece of sweet potato (or once so far, a big steamed piece of a monster carrot), a manapua (steamed roll with meat of veggies inside), toast, and a and a hard boiled egg. It sounds like more than it is, but it is tiny portions of each thing (save the rice). Some meals have also come with some fruit, an apple or pear and thanks to the fruit my colleagues sent to the first hotel, I have plenty of fruit. So far, halfway (*knock wood) through this experience, I'm not at all bored of the food.
*attempted neologism, not a typo
