Majestic-al experience

Some time ago, I had the chance to travel to Malacca for work, and as we were holding our function in the Majestic Hotel, I decided to stay and experience the Peranakan experience that was so widely promoted in the hotel website and brochures.

I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the hotel, not to find a tall building, but rather a quaint little mansion, in a narrow little street. I had driven down from KL, and it had taken me slightly more than 2 hours, it was mid-day, and grumpy as I was, was glad that though the hotel was rather hidden away from the main street, still, it wasnt difficult to find.

A different world welcomed me, upon stepping into the cool reception area of the hotel. The receptionists were all prettily dressed in nyonya kebayas, and they were very quick to recognise me by name (even though I wasnt registered yet!). This could likely be due to this being a boutique hotel, hence there weren't that many guests staying in, at any one time. I was also very pleasantly surprised that at the reception, instead of mints, they serve the brown coconut sweets, which was a very popular sweets of yesteryears but not so common nowadays. Nice!

There are only 50 odd rooms in this colonical styled mansion, but within the premises, everywhere one can see very tastefully designed interiors, and furnitures. Elegant and traditional.

This is what my room looked like.


Really comfy ! what's best about the room, is the bed! The mattress is suitably hard, sturdy, unlike the lumpy mattresses normally found in other local hotels. I was also very amused to find a bolster! just like my childhood days, the bolster is suppose to be the teddy bear for Asian children, to hug at night so as to feel more safe and secure. It is therefore a very thoughtful gesture of the hotel to include a bolster for the comfort of their guests. I, for one, simply find it irresistible, and couldnt resist hugging it whenever I'm back in the room. :)

The room itself is very spacious, and aside aircon, there is also a ceiling fan, should one choose not to use the aircon at night. The old world charm coupled with these modernity, really adds to making the guest feel cosy, and very at home. Love the wooden flooring as well.

The bathroom is simply so elegant and luxurious.. :) The bathtube has legs, just like old time. Though upon knocking, was kinda disappointed that it wasnt porcelain. The bathroom opens up into the room, and can be closed by the sliding wooden partitions. Hence, one can choose whichever level of privacy (or not).

.

Paying attention even to the little details, the hotel has also included a copy of the famous book on Nyonya kebayas, which I enjoyed reading during my stay. All these are in tune to the Peranakan culture that the hotel seeks to promote.

This is truly an experiential hotel stay! needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this majestic-al sojourn, and would certainly want to come back for more in near future.

State of Inertia

Inertia: according to the online dictionary, this refers to " a disposition to remain inactive or inert".

This is what I have been, towards this blog of mine for the past few months.

Not that I had completely forgotten that I do indeed have a blog.

My state of inertia has to be a function of my workacholism.

With the mounting workload, and working at home after hours, just couldnt bring myself to blog. As blogging involves looking at the computer screen again, when I can actually already log off to do something else... hmm..so, am I not cut out for blogging maybe?

Similarly with exercise. State of insertia, that is, until recently. Due to stress, I was compelled to push myself out of this exercise inertia, and yes, believe it or not, I am finally back to the gym. And in order to make it more interesting for me, I have a focus in gym. I mainly go for Muay Thai... hai-yak! chomp chomp, ...which turned out to be an excellent destressing tool albeit the bruises and aching limps thereafter :)

Maybe, just maybe, if I try writing short whimsicals every day (or alternate days), I could just push myself out of this writing inertia too? let's try!

Smoke Not?

Found these some time ago, while I was window shopping at the duty free section in Schipol airport in Amsterdam.


These are very `in your face" messages posted by the tobacco manufacturers themselves on the potential risks and harms of smoking.

I guess it was a local ruling, as across the board, all the different brands carry such warning messages, albeit with a different twist or angle.

Few questions that hit me, will such messages actually deter consumers from picking up that pack of cigarettes?

Will smokers be concerned & alarmed (as intended) with all the warning messages as stated?

How successful was the campaign in reducing the number of new smokers? or getting the chain smokers to give up?

I don't have the statistics though..so, can't tell now..

Now, let's play with an analog...let's just visualise a plate of succulent char siew..well marinated, fragrant, with dripping sweet dark sauce, a little bit of overburnt dark skin on the side... and someone just plastered "Char siew is carcinogenic", "Eat Char Siew makes you fat"... "Char siew can clog up your arteries".. hmmmmmm....

Will that stop anyone reaching for this plate of char siew then? You tell me!
Meanwhile, I know I'd still go for my porky fix anytime.. :)

In Retrospect - Movies Mania of 2008

Just as some people have a cookie jar to keep spare change, I have a tin can that I place my movie ticket stubs into. Not that these little pieces of paper are worth anything, nor are they a collector’s item. Come to think of it, am not sure why I started this practice in the first place. (duh!)

So, now, at the start of 2009, looking back into 2008, I started to count the stubs, which now represents the number of movies I've watched in either GSC, Cineleisure or TGV last year. :)

I know I am a great movie fan, and love to watch at the cinema occasionally (or so I thought) but I’ve never realized that I am such a movie-addict, till I started to count the stubs that I’ve kept for 1 year. All in, there are 32 movies I’ve watched in 2008 in the cinema alone.. (read – not counting those on DVDs yet).

I must stress the cinema part, cos I also have another collection of movie DVDs at home (will blog on that separately). That makes it an average of 2.6 movies a month.

Golly..and 2008 had been an extremely busy year for me, and I myself am amazed at how I managed to do that, considering i don't watch movies during weekends, only week nights!


I guess this is the part of me that is really `spontaneous". Gosh, what a revelation from a bunch of ticket stubs. If only they have bonuslink/loyalty programme for cinema goers.. :P

Zambuk-ing into the new year!

On the 2nd day of Chinese New year, via a freak `accident' at home, I slipped and fell, hitting down hard on my kneecap. The pain was surprisingly excruciating and my family had even thought that I had cracked my kneecap. Perhaps it was due to the whole weight of mine, which accumulated to one point, and pressed down at that very second on my poor left knee cap. In fact I fell kneeling down on one knee in that infamous position for proposals! It was a painful experience, yet on hindsight, appeared pretty hilarious as well.

My older bro immediately jumped up and whipped out his wonder ointment, Zambuk, and advised me to slowly apply and rub into the affected part.

I went like `duh? Zambuk ? are you sure?"

What exactly is Zambuk ? as far as I can remember, it had always been around ever since I was little. My grandparents used it like a `cure-it-all". Zambuk is in fact a dark green ointment, with a distinct aromatic herbal smell. It comes packaged in a dark green tin, and has that `classic' look. The fact that this little gem is still around after so many years (I had forgotten all about it until this moment!) piqued my curiousity.

Upon googling, I discovered that the name is actually a town in South Africa, and thats where it supposedly originated from. There are many uses for Zambuk, be at as an antiseptic, for minor cuts and burns. In this case, my brother and his family has also been using it for mozzie bites, or like in my case, "to rub away the formation of a bruise"(is this even possible??) when the kids had a fall.

Did you know that Zambuk is also a nickname for a first aider in Australia? the story goes that the St Johns ambulance men used to carry Zambuk in their first aid kit bags, and when neccessary, whipped it out to immediately treat injured rugby and football players on the field. The name has since stuck esp with the older generation Aussies.

And so, I followed my bro's advice, and gingerly applied on my wounded kneecap, slowly rubbing and hopefully to rub away the pain of the fall. Feeling the heated sensation (is it from the ointment, or is that from my rubbing?) somehow did help to dull the pain

The next morning, the bruise that was starting to form wasnt apparent anymore!

And so, Zambuk, really lived up to its name of being the `cure all'!

Meanwhile, I brought back the ointment with me to KL since am not sure if I can buy it in the local pharmacies here and hey, it seemed too wonderful to let go...:P (Sorry bro.. but saw that you already have a backup at home, a brand new can! :D )

Happy Moooo Year!

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Gong Xi! May all wishes come true and the new year be filled with joy, happiness, good health, and prosperity.