Shanghai Hotel Quarantine Diary: Day 11

10:42pm last night - it rained!

7:36am - I think the cold front that the rain came with also cleared up the air - now the AQI is below 100, “Moderate.” You can see far enough in the distance to see the Shanghai Tower peeking from behind the apartment building on the middle left. Breakfast placed out.

7:46am - Picked up breakfast. They included the extra disinfecting tablets that I requested last night (second time I asked for more disinfecting tablets; I think these will last me until the end of the stay). Did Centr workout first, before eating though.

8:00am - they called to say we could pick up the breakfast. Today was a yogurt (酸奶) day.

Today’s breakfast included the very nice scallion steamed rolled bun (葱香花卷).

I put the hard-boiled egg (白煮鸡蛋) into the pork and thousand-year-egg congee (皮蛋瘦肉粥). Plus pepper. Plus as much salt as there was left. I didn’t know you could split open these shakers, but I did, and discovered there was hardly any left. Waah, I have three more lunches and dinners ahead of me!

I saved my favorite, the millet cake (小米糕) for last. I love its soft texture that sticks just slightly as one bites down.

9:28am - today’s a packed day. It’s my third COVID test: first one being in San Diego before flying, second one being in Pudong Airport upon landing, and this is the third one - the one that is taken a couple days before the end of quarantine, and is a condition for leaving quarantine. I prepaid 120 RMB when I arrived at the hotel.

This test was just one nostril (and not AS deep as at the airport), and one throat swab, my first time. The vial was pre-printed with my name, which the nurse checked with me beforehand.

Here is the nurse taking off the blue gown. I guess she has the white hazmat suit underneath. Do they put on the blue gown for EACH patient? She was also wearing a mask, googles, AND a face shield, and her head was all wrapped up too. I just marvel at how little protection testers in the US wear.

9:43am - it’s a busy morning (though I think they skipped the temperature check?). The trash guy came around shortly after. Now this time, when I put both trash cans with trash bags tied up near the entrance, he just put the new trash bags in, sprayed the bathroom from where he was standing, and didn’t spray into the bedroom. Maybe he figures I’m probably negative, and didn’t bother spraying the floor of my room as usual? I’m glad he came around in the morning, and especially right after the COVID test person, because this would leave the rest of the day without interruptions.

9:54am - marveled at the fall foliage.

The air is clear enough outside that I leave my window open for the first time this stay.

12:00pm - pick up lunch.

It’s quite interesting to compare this week’s meals and last week’s! For example, last Monday’s lunch was a bit different from today’s in some ways. The ribs flavored with garlic and orange juice (橙汁蒜香小排) had big, seriously sweet pineapple chunks in today’s version.

In contrast, today’s tomato stir-fried with egg (番茄炒蛋) was not nearly as sweet as I remembered last week’s being.

The chopped pepper steamed fish (剁椒蒸鱼duo4jiao1zhen1yu2) was still as good as last week’s though, and my favorite of the whole meal.

The red pepper pieces were just so flavorful and savory, while the fish’s firm flakes flaked cleanly.

The stir-fried cauliflower (清炒花菜) was standard.

Then there was the soybean and bitter melon soup (黄豆凉瓜汤). The soybeans were a bit hard.

6:00pm - pick up dinner. It’s probably my favorite dinner of the entire rotation!

6:25pm - call to pick up dinner

7:57pm - finally get around to eating, because work ran over. Unfortunately, things got cold by this point, but I still quite enjoyed everything!

The sea matsutake fermented tofu and winter melon (腐乳冬瓜煮海松茸 fu3ru3 dong1gua1 zhu3 hai3song1rong1) was as beguiling as ever with their unique form and crunchy texture.

I still loved the smokiness of the Chinese celery with duck breast (芹菜酱爆鸭胸 qin2cai4 jiang4bao4 ya1xiong1). The celery was a bit overcooked, but that might have been because the food had been sitting for a while.

Now, having had the “noodle shrimp” (面线虾) a second time, and the “golden thread shrimp” (泰汁金丝虾) twice, I’m less certain about the differences between the two. This one actually does have the tail on like the golden thread shrimp, but still I feel like the inside is more minced than the other one.

Then there were the stir-fried leafy greens (清炒春菜粒).

And finally, the salted vegetable and potato soup (咸菜土豆汤). This was actually the first time I really thought a soup was sufficiently salty! Thank goodness too, because I’m all out of salt! The potatoes were a bit firm for my liking though.