Day 2. Indeed, confirmed today: yesterday counted as day 1, which means we'll be released a day earlier than we thought: 23 September. Nice news to start the day! Today I'll describe our hotel, but first I'd like to share how it felt to arrive back in Malaysia. When you get out of KLIA, you smell and feel the heavy, humid, warm air, you get into that bus (with the signature ugly curtains, of course) and drive through the Malaysian landscape, well, it really feels like coming home. What a nice feeling! Even though we will be "locked away" for a while; even though there is ever less green and more construction; even though we're not sure how much longer Malaysia will actually really be our home; it positively felt like coming home, and it was great! I guess it's a good side of having been away for this long: we realise once again how nice this place is! Plus, we were welcomed by several friends who sent us messages or called us, so nice, what a warm welcome!
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Arrival at the hotel, with more astronauts awaiting us in full "battle dress", in- and outside the lobby
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View from our room, with heavy rain clouds - it basically rained pretty much the entire time from KLIA until late evening. The big building in the middle is a commuter train station (Puchong Perdana).
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So, the hotel. OK, we are not in PJ Hilton, I revealed that much yesterday. We are in a Hilton however: Hilton Garden Inn, in Puchong. A relatively new hotel, about 20km south of where we live. Not bad at all, we're not complaining at all - we've read and seen much worse from other "covid prisoners". It's a comfortable, typical hotel room with the normal amenities as you would expect. The only thing we had to ask for, was a second chair - the room was clearly prepared for only 1 person, and eating is a bit more practical and cozy seated on a proper chair...
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Location
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OK, waking up in the early morning has the advantage that you can truly enjoy the beautiful Malaysian morning!
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Now, for those curious about the swimming pool, lounge, bar, gym and so on: we are not allowed to leave our room (literally) until the end of the quarantine! There is even no room service for the entire period - basically, nobody goes into or out of the room. So this is not a nice little cheap holiday - but again, we're not complaining. And if you're curious about the cost... Each PUS (see yesterday) must pay for the accommodation, but it's a fixed fee of RM 150 per day; we thought per person, but apparently that is the fee for 1 person in a room, for 2 in a double room it's RM 200 (around 40 EUR monnies) - and that includes the 3 meals. Very reasonable.
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Yes, we can have fresh air: this much, about 10 cm... Still, much much better than not being able to open the windows at all. Because of the rainy days, it's not too hot outside, so it's really is nice to open the window!
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| View directly below our room, typical pleasant Malaysian urban neighbourhood |
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View a bit further out, to our right; we even get to enjoy some greenery! (...)
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I think this one really needs no explanation!
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Life in hotel quarantine is very simple: there's nothing you should or can worry about. Not where you will be going, what you will be doing (I'll write a post about that later), what you will eat (I'll also write about that soon) or who will cook today - it's very simple. Not even when to go to sleep or when to get up. Having said that, last night we woke up very early due to the jetlag, were awake from around 4.30am until 6.30am, then fell asleep again only to be woken up at 7.15am by the doorbell, as the breakfast had arrived. Ouch...
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I guess this is all garden we'll have while staying at the Hilton Garden Inn
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The very typical but well equipped hotel bathroom - and a photographer with nothing else on his hands
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As there is no room service for 2 weeks, all supplies have been placed in the room beforehand. I think we'll have enough of those to last a couple of months... Especially because we have our much more ecological shampoo bar, which lasts months.
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Still, a photographer with too much time - but hey, we need something to hold onto!
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| I know, I know, this is beyond ridiculous. So that is why I'm posting it, hahaha. |
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This one is actually not about the photo but the content. You can't really see this, but the television screen is huge! So who knows, maybe we'll actually watch TV these 14 days... And also important: a referral to the room service menu. It's a limited menu for the quarantine guests, but if we need it we definitely have some choices!
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Security measures are very tight. We can't go out of the room - at all. Food is delivered outside the room, and left on a table. They will ring the doorbell to inform you the food has arrived, so you can go pick it up. There are a couple of daily (police) announcements over the intercom, reminding you of the rules, you can order outside food but very limited, we even had a (routine) call in the morning from a doctor to check on us. Rubbish has to be collected in a bag for biological hazardous waste... For us, it all seems over the top, but then again the pandemic is well under control in Malaysia...
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This rubbish bag says it all: biological hazard. All our waste has to go in here, and will be incinerated. That'll teach you a lesson, you dirty virus!
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So we had a very relaxed day today, doing very few of the things we had prepared for. Which, I guess, is a very good thing. It's also nice we have a good view, so there are always things to watch. 2 of the most exciting things today were: 2 trains crossing each other near the station (later on, it became clear this happens all the time), and I spotted a kingfisher! Well, you have to be happy with what you get, right. Optimism and positivism, the best way to survive and even enjoy this quarantine...
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We had a heavy tropical downpour this afternoon; I've always loved these and still do!
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The power of nature, refreshing everything, leaving cool and fresh air afterwards. Love it!
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And now: time for a nice piece of chocolate! One of the things we brought with us from Belgium. But, as I said, more about food next time. Tomorrow, probably perhaps.
