Accommodation
For people with short term visa (less than 90 days) would have no choice but to quarantine in the Government quarantine facilities, which are essentially hotels. And I read online about other people's experience is that you don't get to choose the hotel, so you are just assigned to one when your flight lands. For those with long term visa (more than 90 days), like myself, have the option of the Government quarantine facility or our own residence. So for a foreigner like me, or even Koreans returning from overseas who do not have their own residence yet, can rent an airbnb. However, make sure to check with the host if they are okay with you serving your quarantine in their place. Some hosts may not allow for different reasons, like for example, the other residents in the same building are not comfortable with the idea.
Costs
To stay in the Government quarantine facility, last time I checked, it was 2,100,000 KRW for 14 days, inclusive of 3 meals per day. It started out at 1,400,000 KRW but then it increased, so always check with the Korean embassy in your own country or check online for others' experiences which they may share in vlogs or forums. I saw in someone's vlog that the price actually changes a little depending on the hotel that you are assigned to but 2,100,000 KRW is the maximum. And every room is the same price! So if you are lucky, you can get a junior suite or perhaps even a suite! As for an airbnb, the price differs depending on the location. So places in the Gangnam district would be more expensive as compared to, say, Gwanak district. But of course, generally meals are not included in an airbnb apartment stay.
Entertainment
Well, it might be tough for some people to stay indoors for 24 hours 14 days straight. It wasn't a problem for me! Since there is wifi in my airbnb, there are so many things I could do! Watch my dramas, lurk around in online forums, start researching for places I want to go when my quarantine ends, so on and so forth. When I get tired from using my laptop for a long time, I just take a nap. If there is sufficient space in the airbnb, you can also exercise, do some yoga or even meditate. Honestly, I thought I would do yoga everyday during quarantine but I ended up being on my laptop most of the time. The only exercise I did was laughing out loud while watching variety shows, training the non-existent muscles in my cheeks and abdomen.
Food and Beverages
Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, after everything checks out at immigration, there is a convenience store that you can stop by before hoping onto your mode of transport to your quarantine place. Since I landed in the late afternoon, I bought my dinner from the convenience store and a 2L bottle of water. Most of my food and water was bought online at Trazy.com because they take foreign (non-korean) credit cards. To avoid interaction with the delivery person while serving quarantine, you are not allowed to order and then pay by cash upon delivery. Hence, it is important to find sites and apps that take foreign cards if you don't have a domestic one.
I saw that Gmarket Global also accepts foreign credit cards, so you can also order groceries from there.
http://global.gmarket.co.kr/Home/Main
On a couple of days, I would order a fresh meal using the Shuttle app. There are many delivery apps in Korea however, not all of them accept foreign credit cards. Shuttle is one of the few that I know does so I used it. The food of course, is not very cheap, not to mention that on top of your order there is a delivery fee. However, depending on the restaurant, sometimes the delivery can be free if you order a certain amount minimally!
https://www.shuttledelivery.co.kr/blog/download-app/
One thing I noticed that perhaps stemmed from quarantine is that there are meal packs are being sold now on websites and apps. Meal packs are packs where the ingredients have been prepared for you. So for example, you would like to make carbonara for yourself, the meal pack would contain all the ingredients you would need and the amount would be meant to be enough for one serving. So all you need to do is to follow the instructions to cook yourself that carbonara.
EDIT: Alternatively, if you would like to get your groceries and/or necessities from Korean sites/apps that don't accept international cards (eg. Coupang, Baemin, etc), I could help you at a flat fee of 5,000krw (so your grocery bill+delivery fee+5,000krw). Interested parties please leave a comment to this post.
Trash
I was told not to throw my trash out. All my trash should go into the orange bag that the health officer gave me. There is no need to sort the recyclables in the trash, the only thing I was told to separate from everything else is food waste. I would put my food waste in a small plastic bag and tie it up tightly, then put the bag into the refrigerator to slow down the decomposition process. You can also put it in the freezer. At the end of the 14 days, I just put that bag into the orange bag with everything else. Then put the bag outside of your place and someone would come to collect it. My quarantine ended on a Saturday. Not sure if it was because they don't work on weekends, but the person only came to collect my trash on Monday. You can also throw your trash at the testing center. Since I needed to go for a PCR test at the start of the quarantine and once more before the end of the quarantine, on both days, I would carry some trash with to throw at the facility. The officer told me I was allowed to do that because they clear the trash there everyday. Similarly, no need to sort the trash even if you throw them there. Because all these trash are being treated as a hazard hence will not be recycled.
There is a shorter version of this post here:
https://www.korea.net/TalkTalkKorea/English/community/community/CMN0000007496
Hopefully this pandemic goes away soon but before that, stay safe and mask on!
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