My view
I woke this morning and fully appreciated the view that I have from my room. It was dark when I arrived last night. I have a view of the Sarawak River and the Tua Pek Kong temple below me. I’m very happy with my room and the view.
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- View from my quarantine hotel.
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- View from my quarantine hotel.
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- View from my quarantine hotel.
My daily routine
Today I start my new routine. Something I hope to maintain for two weeks. Only time will tell if I have the discipline and perseverance to keep it going.
The routine I had created for myself is as follows with approximate times:
- 0630: Wake up.
- 0700: Yoga practice.
- 0800: Breakfast.
- 0900: Essential activities on the computer, eg. bills, emails, attend to upcoming flight cancellations and refunds.
- 1000: Daily temperature check by two Ministry of Health officers dressed in full hazmat suits. [Edit: except on Days 2 & 10 when I had my swabs].
- 1030: Focus on improving aspects of my yoga.
- 1200: Lunch.
- 1300: Non-essential activities on the computer: eg. travel blog, plan dive trip.
- 1600: Bodyweight exercise.
- 1800: Dinner.
- 1900: Relax.
- 2100: Use a foam roller to loosen up tight muscles.
- 2200: Sleep.
In fact, I’ve got this routine and the finer details charted on the wall to ensure that I keep up the discipline. I had planned all this in advance, bringing my yoga and exercise gear. I also brought along a keyboard and mouse with the former wrapped in my yoga mat for protection in the suitcase. The yoga blocks serve as a monitor stand!
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- My countdown chart.
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- On the far left is my ambitious schedule to keep busy. The rest are yoga/exercise details.
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- I brought some gear to help with my yoga and exercise.
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- I’m lucky to have a clear wall space for my yoga practice. I use it for inverions and standing poses (one day against the wall for alignment, and the next day free-standing flow style).
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- Yoga blocks raise my laptop screen to a more ergonomic height.
My PCR test
In Sarawak, my first day of quarantine, the day after arrival is referred to as Day 2. Whereas in Peninsular Malaysia, they refer to it as Day 1, from what I read on the internet.
I had been advised to be ready for a PCR swab by 0900 but it can be anytime after. I received a phone close to midday, requesting that I go down to Level 1. I promptly went down to find that I was the only person there. I was reminded that I should have worn my mask and was promptly given one.
After having my details checked twice I walked up to the swabbers located in the hotel’s function room. This time the swab went down my throat and then each nostril. They weren’t as gentle as at KL airport where it was a mere tickle. I felt it more but it wasn’t painful.
In contrast, the person before me was gagging when the swab was down his throat and had a sneeze-like reaction when it was up his nose. Somewhat like getting pepper up the nostril.
As I left, a stream of people had piled. With social distancing, there was no more seats for those waiting and the queue extended into the hallway.
I returned up to level 11 to find that my door had just be unlocked for me to re-enter. Remember, our room key-cards do not work; they only activate the power supply.