you missed it when you get home. 

that’s right. for the first time in many many travels that i have had, this is the only time i really missed my hotel’s bed. it’s just so comfortable to sleep on, falling asleep is an instantaneous non-issue event the moment the head hit the sack. yes, it was that good. 

you might be wondering which magical hotel is that?

well…read on, i am about to unveil em to you.

this is my second time staying in Old Phuket Hotel, it’s a boutique hotel in the heart of Karon. the first time i stayed here was in 2011, and i have never looked back since. old phuket hotel is the place to be if you are looking for a home away from home.

it does help the moment, you arrived at the lobby of the hotel, you are greeted with a majestic sino-colonial structure, minimally furnished to give it a classy, zen and orderly vibes. 

this time around, i stayed here for a week, and i booked myself a private room with a private jacuzzi and outdoor shower. for a solo traveller, you might think this is quite an indulgent, but trust me, at the end of a tiring day of touring and going about playing tourist, you just want to have a great bath/shower and rest. 

this is the lobby

the walkway leading to the room, also the same way to the reception area if you are coming on foot by the side gate. 

the breakfast place. it’s only open during breakfast time from 630 to 1030. thereafter i don’t ever see this space being used. 

**hint: breakfast at this hotel wasn’t great. so skip the breakfast, go out instead for some nice breakfast by the beach front. 

and finally, unveiling the room.

the bed that had been putting up with my tired body for the last 7 days. 

the private jacuzzi.

the bath tub.

self explanatory :P

and, lastly the outdoor shower. 

the room has the rustic, unfinished touch to it, i am not sure it’s under maintenance or it’s meant to achieve this outcome. and, the yellow walls with the “unfinished” touch to it can look quite creepy at night. 

if you are wondering, where about is this hotel (please see map below).

Credit: Map is taken from it’s official website. 

What i like about this hotel? 

- location: it’s conveniently located - it’s a stone throw away from all the food and happenings from the buzz of karon but yet at the same time, it’s quiet, peaceful, secluded and serene. best of both world they said, i think it’s damn right. 

- price: not overly expensive - enjoying first class holiday and safe some costs, a cheapo in me rejoices.

What i don’t like about this hotel?

- wifi: it is not free and it is not readily available, and to charge for wifi when it should be made free to all patrons is unthinkable.

- breakfast: wasn’t great - the selection is limited to local, american and fruits. the usual. i thought it would be nice to have a thematic breakfast on different day of the week. imagine the poor me had to eat the same breakfast everyday for 7 days. horror isn’t it. 

the million dollar question: will i come back?

not for awhile, this stretch of the beach used to be serene and quiet, the recent visit, there had been a russian invasion and it has been quite noisy :(.

 

the weekend started off with great promise, promise of change, promise of a better future, i was hopeful. i was eager. eager to see “transformasi”, better nation and “reformasi”.

and throughout the day, i heard things that made my heart skipped, my blood boiled and seething. i wonder how could such a thing happen to our beloved tanahair. surely, we are not talking about the same nation, unfortunately, with social media nowadays, anything could hardly escape our eyes. 

anger surged within me. “how dare you rob us like that” i thought. what is the meaning of all this monkey show if it’s not done according to the law and the spirit of democracy?

video after video began to appear on youtube, facebook and twitter. i couldn’t believe my eyes. what happened to a government that was once hailed as superior? why do you need to stoop so low? 

and, i was stumped and stupefied, what do they take us for? idiots? they use “foreign talents” who could hardly utter a word of malay and didn’t look remotely like one to do the deed, to exercise their “rights” as warganegara?

is this really my tanahair? tanah tumpah darahku?

look at this video, they used a copter to randomly dropped ballot boxes at a polling centre and as predicted the guy seen in the video claimed that he doesn’t know where it came from? the name on the ballot boxes clearly indicated the name of its owner. really??

upon further sleuthing online, i found more hideous videos (here, here and there are more). from these links, you can see more. 

this is really appalling to me. i feel ashamed at the state of politics in our country. will i live to see fair play in malaysian politics. if you are convinced that you will not lose, there’s no reason for you to use phantom voters, “foreign talents” to vote. 

you may “win” in the eyes of the constitution, but remember you have lose our respect. if you cannot walk the talk, how can we entrust ourselves into your hands to care for us, to care for the next generation, to care for the building of this nation.

all we want is equality and harmony. 

this isn’t too much to ask. 

this is by far the funniest joke i’ve ever heard this year. goshh…my sides hurt from LOL too hard. i think i am gonna puncture my stomach…

see below and you will understand what i mean.

apparently the election commission (EC) of malaysia has written to singapore’s foreign minister to put an embargo of singapore-registered cars from crossing the border of malaysia-singapore because these cars are gonna meddle with the politics. seriously? anyhow, to read the full article, you can read it here.

this is the most absurd thing i’ve ever heard. 

this is a case of insecurity.

- are you doing all this because you know you are gonna lose? 

as malaysians, we would like to exercise our right as a rightful citizen, regardless of what nonsense you said, we have made up our minds and we are gonna go home regardless. 

you can play all your dirty little tricks, i believe God is mighty and the truth will be unveiled tomorrow. 

the time is now to show these people that they exist to serve us and not the other way round. they are suppose to ensure that our rights are protected and preserved and not make us your slaves. 

if you truly love your rakyat, you wouldn’t treat us like second class citizen. there are many reasons why people want change, one of it is your absurd ways of governing the nation and making us dumbasses in the eyes of the world. you can’t even get the basic right, all you do is dishing out dole after dole in the hope that people would take the bait. this is one old trick. please employ a new trick next time. 

for now, we have had enough of you, it’s time for change. be for good or for worst, we are willing to risk it, if you never try you never know. 

let’s wait and see who’s gonna have the last laugh. 

- fingers crossed - 

After walking past this place so many times on my way to church, I decided to give this cafe a try.

This place only serve brunch (read: all day brunch). They are open from 10am through 9pm on weekdays and weekends from 8am.

What I like about this place:
- small and cozy
- good place to while the afternoon away
- strategic location (beside botanic gardens train station - within waking distance to other parts of bukit timah).

What I don’t like
- menu is confusing - printed menu only features brunch, whereas the rest of the menu is on the wall
- music’s too loud
- concept lacks focus
I mean I know they are trying to maximize the space and perhaps share rental costs with the extra money bring in from selling clothes and stuff, but it would be better if the concepts are planned properly, like having a book corner or chill corner or movie corner, instead of clothes corner. It didn’t score points with me. Food and clothes shouldn’t be together. Or any other form of clothing paraphernalias should not be sharing the same space with food. I dunno perhaps it’s just me.

Anyhow, what did I order ?

I ordered eggs florentine ($15). It’s yums. Served with baked beans and bacon bits. Nothing special actually, typical brunch food.

I didn’t take picture of the food, you may google (here, here, here) em and there you can see plenty of pictures and reviews from other patrons.

Will I come back again? Damn straight I will. Not for food though perhaps for coffee.