It has been 11 days since the health officials and hospital staff came by to ask us to quarantine in our rooms for 14 days and wait for three Covid tests. But my exposure to Covid would have been Wednesday 2 weeks ago when the sick people came to clean my room. After that I never went near anyone in the hotel or touched anything except what was in my room. So today is the 14th day since potential exposure to the virus.
The health officials and hospital staff haven’t returned to do another test or to give us any instructions so tomorrow I will feel free to leave the room. Of course the plan will need to change if people come by today and request I stay until Friday evening which I’m willing to do if requested.
A customer at this hotel from Hungary, an interesting fellow to chat with, told me the unidentified two people walking around telling people what to do are the parents of the owner and they said everybody can leave their rooms if they have no symptoms. This is contrary to what the health officials have said so I have decided to stay until tomorrow which is not the 14th day since the health officials came here and told us to stay for two weeks but it is the 14th day since I was exposed to the virus from the room cleaning by an infected person.
So Wednesday is my day of freedom.
I don’t really feel too much hardship through this ordeal. All the food I wanted my friends were bringing to me. I have all my own entertainment and I can cook whatever seems to be tasty and healthy in the room. I’ve heard some very discouraging stories about quarantine after arriving in Thailand from another country. I didn’t really mind too much staying in the room since I was able to get a few important things done anyway. But quarantining after flying in to another country and living on hotel food for 2 weeks would not be anywhere as nice as what i experienced.
So let’s chalk it up to another episode. It was a potentially troublesome one and I am a little disappointed the hotel owner has not apologized for the inconvenience especially since they were cleaning our rooms after they knew one of them was sick. But i learned long ago not to expect people to take responsibility in these kinds of situations.
The hired help at the hotel, who were gone for a few months, showed up yesterday and today they want to clean the room. But if this is a real quarantine they shouldn’t be doing that, taking a chance on their own and other’s health.
I called the owner and she suggested it was ok to go out and around if we don’t feel sick and tested negative. So…..WHO’s ON FIRST? I think I will at least wait until tomorrow to see if the hospital contacts us.
No change from the other days. Gee brings morning ice coffee which I drink after the fresh coffee I make here. My healthy soup seems to be, well, healthy and supportive.
Pelay brought some tonic water so I can have rum and tonic in the late evenings.
Today is the day I am to wait for the phone call. As I mentioned in quarantine day 4, no phone call will indicate my test is negative. A phone call precedes transport to the hospital. I will show you some photos of my provisions here that keep me in elegant satisfaction. But one thing I don’t have are some of the basic ingredients for my healthy soup.
Turneric mixed with olive oil and salt, onion, garlic, ginger, kimchi and Japanese pork bone (とんこつ） soup mix
So today, while I am mostly living on hors d’oeuvres and snacks I am finishing up Ragnarok and working my way on season four of Outlander and season eight of Perry Mason. One good recommendable thing about watching the old Perry Mason shows is that there are so many names and so many faces and the story becomes so convoluted it is very good mental exercise trying to keep track of everyone and everything going on. But it doesn’t help to be drinking during the episodes.
German style beef salamiif i let this cheese sit for a month the taste might approximate limburger. ok, don’t scold me. I know this is not a healthy food but they taste good and i need some diversion from the focus on healthi found pumpkin seeds are more delicious than sunflower seeds. A friend indicates magnesium is good. I don’t know what it is good for but that is just a search away
A friend indicated that the 11 AM test they gave me on day 4, if the results were positive, would result in a phone call by at least noon time. No phone call came. In fact I am now writing this at midnight so have pulled out in Asahi beer to support my relief at not getting the phone call.
So hopefully my test was negative and I can look forward to (hatefully) the next test and the next nine days. But if I ever have a positive test I will wind up in lockdown for a two week period.
I have been reluctant to create this blog since this was a fairly sensitive day. The hospital staff came to administer the COVID-19 test. The results were to show up in 24 hours. We would be informed in one of two ways, no phone call means a negative result. A phone call means a positive result and to get ready to be taken to the hospital for quarantine and further examination, blood test and chest x-ray. Everyone of course hates Covid tests but I will say it’s difficult to dislike or make any complaints against the hospital staff. They are doing the best job they can an extremely difficult circumstances. So far they have been very good and helpful. And I have a lot of respect for the difficult work they are doing.
I made my last healthy soup (photograph above) so will need to arrange more ingredients but I am a little reluctant to do that in case they come to take me away. I wouldn’t want those ingredients to go bad.
Gee brought the usual daily ice coffee, and also garlic, onion and ginger so I could add turmeric, olive oil, Kimchi and TONKOTSU soup mix (pork bone soup) special healthy soup. Another friend brought water and other provisions which I asked people to leave in my blue basket on my motorcycle downstairs so they would not have to come into the hotel back area. And the Korean restaurant brought 2 kg of kimchi. Instead of putting the kimchi in the blue box on the motorcycle the person hung it on the blue motorcycle. No problem just funny.
There was a lady cleaning up the fallen leaves in his garden area and she had a problem understanding she needs to keep a good distance away from all of us. When I went down to pick up my food I asked her to please give me some distance to pass by her and she insisted that would not happen so I went back to my room and waited for her to move on to another area. When the health officer came by to get a copy of my passport page and inform me of the test the next day at 10 AM that same cleaning lady kept interrupting her and trying to explain to me what she was saying. The health officer was very understandable and she was so irritated at the cleaning lady she turned around and asked her to please stop commenting. So that was my excitement for the day.
There is no way anyone could be looking forward to a Covid test. I am absolutely no exception. The one down the throat it’s just unbelievably irritating. When I paid to have a test done a few months ago just to check my health, following the test I apologize for making such horrible noises.
OK back to Ragnarok, Outlander and Perry Mason season 8.
This is my first complete day locked away. Yesterday the quarantine request from hospital staff came at noon. I live up in the garden area behind the main hotel building and I don’t want people walking in here for health reasons. But I am kind of fortunate because on my motorcycle I have a large blue basket I can use as a drop point.
So I disinfected the basket and use disposable thin plastic gloves to handle things in and around the basket. Quarantine people are not supposed to give people cash but the bank transfer system here is very good so I can make payments and have people drop off in the blue basket on my motorcycle.
Today a mocha pot for making Italian coffee arrived. It is a replacement for a friend of mine. The transport company just left it inside the blue basket and my friend came to pick up in the afternoon.
My morning deliveries were iced coffee from Gee and some garlic, ginger and onion for my special healthy soup. I include kimchi, turmeric, olive oil and Japanese pork bone soup mix (とんこつスープ).
I l feel very good and very healthy. And actually my breathing is better than it has been in a month, much clearer and deeper. The only pain or discomfort I feel is from a fall last week when I drank too much.
Today the hospital people came and took all the hotel staff to the hospital. They tested positive for Covid 19 and will be in or around the hospital for sometime. The hospital staff asked us at the hotel to stay in our rooms for 14 days. I have friends on the island so there is assistance in bringing food and necessities. Since there is no hotel staff I just hope that electricity and water continue without too much disruption.
As I mentioned several times, every day is very different and even if the differences are very small they are evident if we look closely for even the minuscule differences.
Walking on the beach a month ago I saw a fishing net ready to be picked up but not removed. As the waves washed in the sand it was covered except for a small portion. Last week the whole net was uncovered by the receding sand and it seems someone from the beachfront resort moved it up where it can be taken away.
As I was in the ocean with a friend a silver fish, about 15 cm long, jumped out of the water and stabbed my friend. Here you can see how it pierced his ear. He should have taken advantage of the piercing to insert a pirate’s earring. He didn’t. But he did take revenge on that fish or his cousins. They were very tasty with a spicy Thai sauce.
This is the first time I saw a Hulu Hoop Girl! This is Gee the coffee lady.
Coconut trees need to be harvested from time to time to avoid the coconuts falling on heads and killing customers.
One delicious dinner, for me, is grilled pork with a spicy sauce, cucumbers in a salad dressing and deep fried shrimp chips.
Look how kids are transported on Koh Chang.
This cat is dreaming of her roll in the next SuperCat movie.
Roel made this great Holland dinner, slow cooked pork with mashed potatoes mixed with sauerkraut.
After Pizza at Babylon you can have home made Gelato.
Late night meals include grilled fish and fresh caught shrimp (that morning) with a spicy lime/herb sauce.
While eating a meal and drinking you might be lucky enough to provide a drink for a moth.
Trattoria & Pizza (Chef Angelo) in Lonely Beach area makes fantastic Panzerotto, Tiramisu and crystal lemon desert. Easy to sleep after that wonderful meal, all for US$11.
