One of my best friends will be visiting from China in a week and has just been advised that she may be required to stay in a five day quarantine upon her return to China. Apparently, the Chinese Government has been selecting random passengers who have recently visited the US to stay in the five day quarantine status because of Swine Flu worries.

She has decided to risk it and visit the US anyway. I have promised to design a Quarantine Grab Bag for her entertainment should she be so lucky to win a spot in isolation.

Here is where I need you:

Ever been quarantined? What was it like?

If you could have a fabulous bag filled with amusing prizes with which to entertain yourself during the quarantine process, what would you hope to find inside? All suggestions are welcome!

Thank ye kindly.

Tetris game.
I had a 5 hour layover years ago on my way to Belize. My boyfriend-du-jour threw his 1990's tetris handheld in my bag before I left. It was the best thing on earth.

Romance Novels.
When you're angry and frustrated and sitting in an uncomfortable chair reading something like "His enthusiasm pressed against his luxurious velvet pantaloons" will send you into a fit of giggles. I dont care who you are. It's freakin halarious.

Does she have a media device? During a long layover in the Madrid Airport I had a bag of X-File dvds. It made me happy.

Manicure kit --because doing your nails takes up a lot of time

Knitting kit--same reason (Bamboo needles are allowed on most planes)

Choose your own adventure novels
I have no idea why they dont make these for grown ups. They are endlessly entertaining

Guiness book of World Records.

A music contraption device thing.
Even an old mp3 player that costs 20 dollars...sure you only have one 'playlist'. But it beats the dull silence of a quarantine room.

All of the above, plus something to help her sleep - benadryl, dramamine, melatonin or whatever. Personally, I have no trouble sleeping nearly anywhere, but she might so whatever she can legally take with her might be useful.

Of course, no Chinese Quarantine Grab Bag would be complete without one of these...

Wouldn't this kind of depend on her? Ask her what she likes to do when she's on an airplane or travelling via train and work from there. If she has a laptop, that's the biggest toy anyone can bring. I'd go for books (in Chinese or English), portable video game and movie players with movies(PSP, gameboy, etc.), puzzle books (word search, sudoku, crosswords), MP3/4 player, pen and paper/journal to write in, random toys (yo-yo, rubix cube, tennis ball)...she'll only get quarantined if she has a fever or someone on her flight has a fever/swine flu symptoms. She should be fine otherwise.

Update -- I included a little manicure kit with enough polish to do a French manicure and three other polish changes, three bodice ripping romance novels, a Rubik Cube, a package of Chinese Finger Traps, a journal, a 200 foot roll of aluminum foil and a hundred pages of craft activities that utilize it, the travel IQ game that I played for hours when I was 12 and trapped inside my grandma's car driving from AZ to VA, and that very touching mask that you suggested, NTFT.

Apparently it was just the talisman that she needed -- she was through customs and back in her apartment in Shanghai in record time.

She did mention, though, that some of her friends have been told that they were to be quarantined and they responded by saying that they were pregnant. They were allowed to be quarantined in their own home and no proof was required. So, ladies, FYI....

Thanks to all for your absolutely fabulous suggestions!

Prisa wrote:Choose your own adventure novels
I have no idea why they dont make these for grown ups. They are endlessly entertaining

They do. Or at least, one author that I know of does. Check out Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton. The first choice in the book is "do you want to go to college, or do you want to travel?" It's quite fun - in one ending I managed to get eaten alive by sharks!

She has another one due out next year, based on winning the lottery. First choice in that one will be whether to take the lump sum or take the monthly payments. I'm excited.