Sydney quarantine: Tips to making isolation and food choices more bearable

Eat Street’s Jenifer Jagielski spent 14 days quarantined in Sydney after returning to Australia from the US. She reveals what it is like locked in a room with only time to kill.

Don’t believe the iso whiners — 14 days in hotel quarantine is not prison.

But — coincidently — there are five sets of emotions you need to overcome to survive those 330 hours locked in a room. And it begins with the wake up call that hits you hard — nothing leaves the room once the door closes behind you — including my brother’s house and car keys which were wedged in the bottom of my bag, 12,000km from his US home.

Stage One: Denial. Surely, they’d make an exception?

Stage Two: Anger.

Stage Three: Bargaining. But countless pleas for assistance and cries for mercy didn’t work . 

Stage Four: The Blues:

Stage Five: Shit happens: This is for real. Deep breath. The keys are just going to have to wait.

WHAT ABOUT THE FOOD?

You’re given 12-bottles of water. Drink them! Between the flight and room’s aircon, you’ll be dehydrated, which can lead to headaches.

Quarantine Cuisine equals three square meals a day, served in plastic containers delivered in brown paper bags. You’re going to feel guilty about the lack of recycling, but it all needs to be disposable. Remember, you’re saving lives.

What a difference a plate makes.

Pesto pasta with dessert.

Dietary requirements are taken into consideration. The main grievance seems to be with this two-week exile is the food. The menu isn’t really representative of the hotel’s fare; since their kitchen is designed for room service and the onsite restaurant, so serving up 1500 meals a day isn’t quite business as usual. That being said, there are no rules that you have to eat it as is or eat it at all as the hotel can accept pretty much any delivery be it from a restaurant, convenience store, or supermarket. You can even order alcohol but per the instruction sheet, only one bottle of wine or three bottles of beer are permitted a day.

And yes, they check. But if you do want a tipple, it’s quite reasonable with wine going for $15 bottle — none of that mini-bar mark-up.

Considering guests are already going to be out $3000, go with the option of eating what was delivered. But nothing says temporary and transient like eating out of a plastic container with plastic cutlery, so to make it more appetising a dear friend brought me some crockery and silverware. What a difference a plate makes!

The wine is priced well.

A fruit basket made with brown paper delivery bags. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

Before you put in an online grocery order, get a sense of the food that you’ll be getting from the hotel. You’ll get a lot more than you think — whether you like it or not is another thing.

Hold off on ordering extra fruit right away. You get a piece with pretty much every meal and it adds up.

Same goes for milk, butter and jam — you get plenty of those packets.

Try not to eat at the desk; I made it my designated work zone. I got a bit more creative with my “eating zone”. I draped a pillowcase over a footstool which I’d moved in front of the window, topped it with some flowers I made out of tissue paper and voila! A white-linen dining experience.

From this to this.

One bummer though is that depending on where you are in the two-hour meal-delivery block, your food may arrive at a less than ideal temperature. Alas, I didn’t have a microwave, but I soon learned that a blow-dryer can do a pretty dandy job of melting cheese. Do not however, try to heat up soup in the kettle, lest ye set off the smoke alarm.

The Sofitel softened the iso blues with little gestures such as a page of puzzles that came each morning with breakfast, balloons and poppers were left at every room on NYE and they even held a virtual movie night complete with popcorn and chocolates.

WHAT ABOUT THE ROOM?

This is the definitive list of things to bring, borrow or buy plus some helpful tips before that door closes behind you. 

When you arrive, sleep. Jet lag is a bitch, so why not. The hotel delivers fresh linens and towels on Day 1 and Day 7. And yes, you have to make your own bed as no one is allowed in. And no, you can’t request fresh ones from the hotel like you would on a holiday stay. 

When you emerge from your travel-induced coma, try to get all semblances of travel out of site. Unpack your bags. This will be your home for the next two weeks so treat it as such and make it liveable.

You’ll be doing your own washing. You need detergent. Well, you could get it done for you but laundry costs $40 for 10 items and has a 48-hour turnaround. The bathroom sink is the best place to wash clothes not being worn.

Nothing says home more than pictures of loved ones. Keep one by your bedside so when you wake up, you’re less inclined towards a “where am I” fright.

Try to brighten the room up. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

Definitely keep it tidy. Make sure you have an all-purpose spray cleaner. I’m not a clean freak but in a small space, just one thing left out can make the place feel cluttered and messy. You know how nice it is to come back to your room and have the bed made-up and the towels folded? Suck it up, buttercup. You’re on your own now. 

There is no access to a vacuum cleaner (falls under the “nothing leaves the room” rule) but you will certainly have crumbs which begs the question, why, why serve flaky croissants for breakfast? Why?

There weren’t any specific rules saying not to, but I moved some furniture to give me more room to exercise. I pushed the desk closer to the window and moved the nightstands into the closet.

Must haves: Bottle opener/Corkscrew; a set of crockery and cutlery; Sriracha, tabasco/chilli sauce; salt and pepper.

WHAT ABOUT THE PROTOCOLS?

You will be subjected to two COVID tests — Day 2 and Day 10. It’s those brain-probing ones.

SO WHAT I ACTUALLY DO TO PASS THE TIME?

Keep the exercise up.

There is the obvious option: exercise. You can rent a stationary bike or elliptical for your room if you are lucky enough to source one because they are in high demand. A friend came to my rescue and brought me some exercise equipment, including a mini-trampoline. I managed to work out every day, bouncing between Jane Fonda aerobic moves and a “room run”. For the record in a 7m room, it takes 1428 turns to run 10km. 

Try to book a stationary bike as soon as you know your arrival date. Even if it’s months out. You don’t need the name of your hotel.

I really tried to avoid watching TV. At least during the day. Instead, I did things that didn’t have time constraints. I’d go so far as to encourage you to fall down the rabbit hole of TikTok or YouTube videos.

But avoid all of the “life in quarantine” pages on Facebook. Yes, there is good info in there, but it’s hidden amidst a deluge of whining and complaints. This does not help.

* Be crafty: I also made use of the brown paper bags; I taught myself to weave. Thank you, YouTube University. I started on a little box around noon and come midnight, I’d made a pretty decent fruit basket. After 14 days, I also had a placemat, drink coaster, eye-glass holder, and even a bag for my bags. 

* Avoid! All of the “life in quarantine” pages on Facebook. Yes, there is good info in there, but it’s hidden amidst a deluge of whining and complaints. We all know this isn’t an ideal situation but bitching about it isn’t going to change anything, except, once again, the transmission of overseas COVID cases and the mood of those still inside.

And finally …

Focus on why there is a 14-day quarantine in place. And when you take that first step onto the footpath and into the outside world, give yourself a pat on the back. You’re a hero. 

Your two weeks in quarantine has helped save lives.