Asian Mama Journal

And wow, are we almost done with quarantine already? We are now at the two-day countdown and the hotel is already sending me messages about arrangements on how to check out. Both my husband and I think we are really going to miss this hotel room. Not only because of the good memories we have shared here as a family, but also the great service we have received from the hotel in general.

In my previous post, I shared about the materials you can prepare in advance to help you and your toddler enjoy the one-on-one time. In this post, I am going to share 7 tips on how to actually deal with the quarantine itself; things to take note of and things to do to make the quarantine time more pleasant for you and your family as a whole. I hope my experience will be helpful to those who are currently or will need to be in quarantine in the foreseeable future.

Tip #1: Book a hotel you are comfortable with

Booking a quarantine hotel, at least in the case of Hong Kong, could be tricky. If you want a good hotel with decent price, you will have to book WAY in advance because a good quarantine room is what everyone wants. Does the hotel deliver good meals? How clean is the hotel? Do they provide good services? Are you concerned with how big the room is? It is not a bad idea to check out their ratings before actually making the decision because trust me, your choice of hotel makes a whole lot of difference. Our family got lucky as we were able to secure a spot at a decent hotel at a decent price at later time. And both my husband and I are grateful that we got great service from the hotel because you are going to rely on their help a lot during those 14 days. Decide on what matters more to you regarding a hotel room and start from there.

Tip #2: Feeding your toddler…

The most difficult part of quarantining with a toddler for me is the feeding… Since our hotel does not provide a high chair, we basically have to either sit Little Ray on a chair or hold him while feeding him (as making a mess on the carpet does not seem like a good option…). Make sure to bring your toddler’s eating utensils and also bibs. They sound very basic but trust me you will thank yourself later!

I will also make sure to bring sufficient baby food for your toddler before the trip. The hotel food is made to cater to everyone’s needs, which means sometimes your baby’s nutritional needs may be neglected. I brought 5-6 bottles of baby food and also some snacks like dried fruits and crackers for Little Ray and they have been lifesavers when we found the hotel food too salty or unhealthy to consume.

Tip #3: Check your hotel location

If you are foodie like our family is, book a hotel that has some restaurants nearby you so that when you get tired of the hotel food (which you sure will), you have other options. Our hotel is located where I once attended college, so ordering food that I once ate when I was younger (oh those good old days) made my quarantine stay a lot sweeter…

You will also want to check if your hotel offers service with sending up delivery to your room. Check how delivery works in your quarantine country/area.

Tip #4: WORKOUT!

I am embarrassed to say this but our workout routine as a family has been a lot better than normal during our 14-day stay in the hotel. After adjusting to jet lag (it shouldn’t be a problem for you, we decided to do a yoga session and dance party everyday morning to get our blood pumping. It really starts our day right!

Tip #5: Bring Vitamin D

This will be a big thing to note while you are quarantining with your toddler. With limited exposure to sunlight during those 14 days, make sure to bring vitamin D for your little ones to take each day. We also try to expose Little Ray to sunlight by looking out of the window with him each day. It is actually a lot of fun talking about what is happening out there too!

Tip #6: Decide on the carpet

Everyone’s comfort level with carpet is different. With the limited space we have in the room, our play area is bound to have carpets. Of course, carpets can bring about a lot of allergies, especially carpets that are publicly used and stepped on… So we decided that to request extra bed sheets to cover up the play area to make the play area cleaner and more pleasant to be at. Most hotels should be pretty open to providing extra bed sheets and other supplies. Check what your hotel are willing to provide so you know what you might need to bring beforehand.

Tip #7: Fresh food delivery service?

Check to see if fresh food delivery service is available to you! Or if any family members or friends are able to help deliver things to your hotel. Having fresh fruits and veggies have been of tremendous help to our family during our 14-day stay in the hotel. Keeping yourself healthy during the quarantine period is really important. We also brought vitamins to make sure our immune system is in check. Luckily, you won’t have to worry too much about jet lag during your quarantine because you can sleep and rest as much as you can :p

The hotel we stay at does not have a microwave available in the room (and it seems like it is very common here…), so get ready for what I am about to share with you…

Try to get your hands on a RICECOOKER!

I cannot emphasize how lucky we are to have someone bring a rice cooker over because it has been of TREMENDOUS help. We don’t want to eat out all the time as there is still a lot of MSG in food. So when we want to make our own food, rice cooker is perfect… Electric stove would do too! We use it also to heat up food items that got cold (sometimes we forget to pick up the hotel food at our door and it is good to eat food that is warm!)

So there we go! All 7 quarantine tips into your pocket! Two more days to go and I will be sharing something other than quarantine – our actual Hong Kong experience! 😀