I woke up sweating in the middle of the night in my hotel quarantine room. Before eventually realizing I had forgotten to turn on the air conditioning. Before eventually groggily got up to switch it on. Before eventually went back to sleep only to wake up at 3 am, then at 7 am, when the beautiful sky greeted me from the curtainless window. Before eventually waking up for good at 9 am with a headache from oversleeping.
Breakfast – Chinese fried rice, Mapo Tofu, Mongolian Beef, Crackers, Indonesian Pickles, Croissant and Soft Bread Roll, Yoghurt, OJ and Black Coffee
Then, there was a knock on the door; breakfast had arrived, looking appetizing. I called room service for extra Sambal chilli paste, brushed my teeth, and started my morning with milk coffee.
Today’s breakfast was Chinese fried rice. I finished everything I liked and left the stir-fried beef. Chewy stir-fried beef shouldn’t be a breakfast food. Later, when Amma asked what I had for breakfast, I told her fried rice but left out the beef because why create unnecessary drama?
For the rest of the morning, I did some office work, booked my booster shot, and watched all six episodes of “The Afterlife” TV show by Ricky Gervais. It brought me a lot of feelings.
Lunch – Bebek Rica Rica, Steam rice, Coleslaw, Vegetable, Tomato Ketchup, Whole Apple, Soft Bread Roll and Aqua
Lunch arrived before I knew it. It was Bebek Rica Rica, a dish from the Indonesian region of Makassar. I can’t recall when I last had it before today.
I only ate half of the food this time because everything was cold, and this bento-style eating is becoming monotonous (yes, I’m fully aware it’s only the second day of hotel quarantine).
I requested extra sambal for every meal and milk for each coffee. I called room service for another Cappuccino in the late afternoon but burned my tongue on it. I forgot that we don’t drink coffee immediately in Indonesia.
I then spent a good hour persuading my YouTuber cousin to get me a second computer screen before gossiping about our extended family. After that, I video-chatted with Amma and Aunty, watched “Fit Up,” a Korean TV reality show about houses, and turned on HBO while browsing topics from no-makeup makeup to eye cream before returning to my office work, which distracted me from the plot.
At 2 pm, I decided it was time for a bath—there wasn’t much else to do in quarantine. The bathtub was lovely, but I was unsure if the huge window right beside it was frosted, so I had to do a lot of maneuvers to ensure my dignity was intact from the unknown eyes of Jakarta’s high risers.
When I stepped out of the bath, I realized I had forgotten to turn on the air conditioning again. The room became unbearably hot, and the headache was back. I opted for a quick cold shower and a cold face mask.
By then, it was 3:30 pm, and I was hungry, so I called room service.
Dinner – Indonesian Fried Rice with Omelette, Fried Chicken and Chicken Sambal
The original recipe for dinner was grilled Chicken cajun mashed potato, sautee baby vegetable, chilli sauce fried dumpling, soft roll, and aqua, but I requested fried rice instead.
I just finished rewatching “Love Actually”; I wonder why I don’t watch it every Christmas—it’s still one of my favourite movies.
And It got me thinking about indulgence.
Staying at the Ritz Carlton is indulgent—something I would never have done impulsively in Jakarta. Everything indeed feels like an indulgence here. Staying in the Ritz Carlton. Staying in a 5-star hotel. Staying in the largest room I’ve ever slept in alone. Staying in such a spacious hotel room all by myself. Staying in the room all day long. With the beautiful marble bathroom, excellent amenities, fast internet, and a spacious work desk, I have plenty of “me” time—plenty of time to do everything I want.
It’s amazing.
Yes, I know I paid a hefty price for this stay—indulgence, really. But if there’s ever a time to feel it’s worth it, it’s now. I should think and believe that this is normal, so it’ll be normal for me.
I do wish I had a day off during this hotel stay, you know, to indulge and enjoy—every day still feels like a stack of to-do lists to tick off, and these things, you see. But then again, maybe that’s just how life is if I want to keep progressing. I shouldn’t dislike this, but I still enjoy it because life is meant to be enjoyed.
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