Life in Queensland during quarantine

After arriving in Brisbane, we were whisked into Four Points by Sheraton after completing security check at Brisbane airport. We didn’t do any swab (PCR) test after landing like we thought we would, after hearing what other travelers had gone through to go back to their home country or enter their host country. They didn’t even ask if we had done the test before flying out of Malaysia. We did however get a daily phone call to make sure we are mentally and physically healthy. The swab test we were so looking forward to came a few days before we were due to come out of quarantine and we received the result not long after.

Now, lets talk about the quarantine itself. Our group had quite a lot of families, they were also staying at the same hotel as us. However, after advising the quarantine staff that the room is too small for a family of 4 or more, they were moved to a service apartment accommodation. Their food was delivered earlier so the little ones don’t have to stay up past their bedtime to have their dinner. Food for us adults was great for the first week, the second was a repeat of the first week. No more excitement, no more worrying about whether or not we would have enough in between meals. We enjoyed most of them, especially when it was a meat pie day. They were quite generous with their serving portion too.

The view from our hotel room was windows to other office blocks or hotel rooms. We weren’t able to open any windows, however, we had access to a workout program and outdoor/fresh air time if we needed it. We were curious about it, so we decided to go for it. We went 3 times before deciding it wasn’t worth it. Our hotel doesn’t seem to have a rooftop facility, so we were taking our outdoor time in the car park. We had to be mindful of cars leaving the car park and there wasn’t much sun coming through…. there was a gap on the roof, so that was the only sunshine we had when we went outside. If they did have a rooftop facility, it wasn’t made available to us.

From some Facebook groups related to quarantining in Australia, we read about the amount of dust in the room. Yes, it is very true. Dust build up so quickly that if you don’t wipe the surfaces daily, it looked like your room is covered in Parmesan cheese shaving. Some people posted a checklist on what we could or should have, which helped. We brought in some sauces, chilli paste, as well as our favourite tea and coffee. Our parents also sent us 2 Coles bag worth of food, including 2 bottles of wine, adapter and Australian SIM card. We could order alcohol from the hotel if we wanted to, but they rationed it. I guess it is to prevent us from being drunk and damaging public properties. Having lived in Asia, we are so used to having food panda, Grab, or Gojek for deliveries. We learnt that we can have alcohol delivered, but not to our hotel address. Oh well, we live and learn.

We are very grateful that during our quarantine days, we still had jobs (online tutoring). Our days were filled with lessons planning, creating power point presentation for the students and teaching. When we weren’t doing any of that, we applied for jobs, set up mygov, opened a bank account for husband, attempted to do yoga, did HITT training, downloading and watching Fringe, doing laundry, and taking turns picking up our food and recycling our rubbish.

It was an experience and I must say that at the end of the day, you do what you need to do to keep you and your family safe. We could have stayed in Malaysia but with Whiskey already in Brunei, we thought it is best for us to start the journey home. We don’t regret it and we are continually adjusting to life in Australia.

Touched down

After a lot of doubts, worries and emailing, we finally made it back to Brisbane. Day 2 of quarantine.

So here is the recap.

The chartered flight organised by Singapore Air charter got taken over by CapaJet, also known as Trips Exotica. Those who have made bookings with Singapore Air charter were able to transfer their payment to Capa Jet. The original route was from Jakarta – Port Moresby – Brisbane. It was suppose to fly on 3 November at 4pm. A few days later, we received an email that the flight would be leaving from Jakarta to Brisbane on 4 November at 2am.

We were worried that we might not be able to get a boarding pass in Kuala Lumpur, but thanks to the Australian embassy in Jakarta and High Consular in Kuala Lumpur, we managed to get our transit permit at 6pm, the day before we were due to fly.

Arrived at the airport after 2 police checks. Good thing we had gone to the police station to get the interstate travel permit. Before we left our apartment, we still hadn’t received our eTicket yet. We were told that we should get it within 24 hours before the flight. Check in counters were open, we contacted our organiser to let her know that the eticket hasn’t been emailed. Just before 1pm, we received our eticket. We looked at it and took Capa Jet’s version of an eticket to check in. Took 6 of the Garuda check in staff to check us in. We made it to our gate before it got closed.

Arrived in Jakarta with no problem. We were escorted by 2 airport staff and an airport police. We got through all the checks with no problem and were deposited at the Garuda lounge. Not long after, someone from the embassy came to welcome and watch over us. He stayed until the last passenger from Bali arrived and asked if we could help watch over her after he had left.

That woman was on another level of panic. She is old and was not very hopeful that the flight was going to happen. We had to ask one of the staff to help us calm her down. She did and thankfully, our boarding pass for the next flight arrived in less than an hour before the plane.

We arrived in Brisbane at about 3pm-ish. Went through all the custom checks and filled in all the paperwork for quarantine. Got in our hotel at about 7pm and ate dinner at about 8pm.

So far, everything has been great. The room is not the same as the apartment we had, but enough for us to continue with our work. Food has been great despite everything we had read. Queensland government and Queensland health have been checking on us since day two to make sure we are all OK. Room break is around the parking area so it is not something I look forward to. My husband said that we would not go just for the sake of going out of the room because as soon as we were out, I wanted to go back in.

I hope all other Australians who are still overseas and want to come home will be able to come home soon. I still believe that if Australia hadn’t put on the cap, we would not be in this situation. I don’t understand politics and I don’t pretend that I do, but it does make me wonder if the government and the Australians are really benefiting from the cap.

What a let down

Today, the article on Tom Hanks visiting Australia for his movie, avoiding the mandatory 14 days quarantine gained attention again in one of the Aussie expat Facebook group. It really annoys the living day lights out of me. This is the actor who had Corona virus already and has been given permission to enter Australia despite the international arrival cap that prevented many of us from returning to the land we call home.

A lot of Australian expats are struggling to go home. This week, I read an article on how DFAT employees in Canberra are accused of booking 2 to 3 tickets (paid in full) for overseas DFAT workers. You can read the full article here. It might not be true, but no one is denying it and it makes the current government looks like they are as competent as my Year 3 students. No wait, my Year 3 students can do what is expected of them.

When the Prime Minister issued advice, recommending Aussie expats to come home, it also stated that the national carrier (Qantas) will maintain its operation on both international and domestic routes. Not the case! Australians overseas have to rely on Emirates, Qatar, China Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Air and Cathay Pacific to take them home.

A lot disappointment is also directed towards the Australian consular abroad. I emailed them to ask for assistance regarding my expired work visa and they sent me links that provided me with little information regarding my situation. In hindsight, they probably have very little knowledge of what to do despite their ongoing discussions about changes that affect foreigners in Malaysia.

If one day, the government released a statement saying “we got through Covid-19 together” or “humanity helped us overcome the hardship caused by the pandemic” I call bullshit on that. From where I am sitting right now, the government has done very little to help Aussie expats. If anything, they have done really well in dividing the nation. Those who believes that Aussie expats should stay out of Australia and those who want them to come home.

Not all of us are living the life of Tom Hanks. I was going to come home and retire from living abroad. Sadly, that is not going to happen anytime soon. My husband and I can’t continue to survive on what savings we have while hoping that the ticket we have bought is the one that will take us home. I have accepted that reality and it is a downer.

I am not looking forward to my next call with my parents. They were so excited that we are finally going to start living in Australia. But, we need to do what we need to do to survive. For us, this is it. Taking another job offer until the day we can come home without worrying whether or not we made the cap.

Third’s time a charm

Whisky is scheduled to fly on the 11th. This would be her third attempt at relocating to Australia. The agent is not as hopeful as they were the second time around. I don’t blame them, as airlines these days are allowed to cancel their flights without reason. Still, we are crossing our fingers that this time, Whisky will be able to board the flight and start her journey to Australia. She will be flying with Malaysia Airlines instead of Royal Brunei.

Whisky is a picky eater, even though we have exposed her to a variety of food since she was a pup. She used to like bananas, carrots, broccoli and peas. As she got older, she started to eat only dog food. She would push the healthier items off her bowl. We are alternating her diet between raw food and home cooked meals. She eats better, but won’t touch canned food since.

I joined a Facebook group about pets travelling back to Australia. I found out that you could ask your vet to write a letter about your pet’s eating habit so you could send your own to the quarantine centre in Melbourne. This is a good surprise since my pet relocator agent told me that you won’t be able to make such request and that we need to start training our dog to eat a certain brand of dry food (kibbles).

So this is how you can do it. You order your preferred dog food from online pet shops and have it delivered to the Mickleham quarantine centre. The rest is a bit hazy because from the post I read, she didn’t address the package to the quarantine centre, instead to Canberra. If you are interested and would like to find out more, you can email them at PEQservices@agriculture.gov.au

Would I be doing this? Maybe…. After being away from us for 45 days (and likely to be more), she would have adjusted to her new diet. I don’t think I would unless I get news that she is not eating well during her time in Brunei.

Almost there

Whisky is going for her final medical check tomorrow morning to make sure she is healthy and fit for her flight on 4 September. We are excited and nervous because she has never been away from us for more than 2 weeks. I hope she will be in good hands when she gets to Brunei.

On another topic, we are still waiting for our bonuses from the previous employment. The school and all the leaving staff members signed an agreement that our bonuses will be paid on 31 August. This is against the Malaysian labour law, where it says that all money owed will be paid on the employee’s last day of work. I am not sure if the local labour law applies to foreign workers though. So here we are, watching our bank balance every few hours to see whether it has been deposited into our account.

We also made another booking to go home. This time we decided to go with Cathay Pacific. They have a direct flight to Brisbane, and I prefer that. The Singapore Air flights to Brisbane have a layover in Sydney. Although the customer service rep told us that we will be able to reach Brisbane without having to do quarantine in Sydney, we are not sure if that would still be the case in October. I wish that the cap will be eased, or citizens and residents will be prioritised over international students. It would be good to go home and be with my family again.

Whisky might be going

Yesterday we received hopeful news from our pet relocator agent. They told us that the export permit to Brunei has been approved. The photos of Whisky we sent might have helped, as they were worried that Whisky could be a mixed of pom and an aggressive breed. The agent is now waiting to hear back from either Malaysia Airline or Brunei Air for confirmation of cargo space for Whisky. We are hoping that all will go as planned.

If it does, Whisky will go to a vet in Shah Alam for her medical check up. On the 4th, she will be picked up around 1:30AM to go to the airport. She then will spend 14 days in quarantine, followed by another 30 days of boarding. Once she has completed all that, Whisky will have to go through another round of medical check up before she goes to Melbourne, Australia. There, she will spend another 10 days in quarantine and hop on another flight to Brisbane. Digits crossed that this plan will go without a hitch.

On the human side, we received some good news about our current accommodation as well. Our landlord understands our situation well and to help us out, he has extended our contract with reduced rent. We might have to move to one of his other condo if someone is interested in renting ours. We will get all our deposit back, if there is no damage and unpaid bills.