When I survey the Wondrous Cross

beautiful song

Hospitality Part 2

Tiara Beach Resort

After the KL visits, we headed to Port Dickson to visit some resorts and hotels. We first visited Tiara Beach Resort. Regular family resort, nothing unusual. It has a apartment type of accommodation with two huge swimming pools resembling sunway lagoon's pools. Picture shows the pool as backdrop.

Palm Spring Beach Resort

Next visit we went to Palm Beach Springs Resort. Hard to identify what architectural type they had..there were a variety of 'shalets' but being the Malaysian we are, they were all poorly maintained and they had a very nice 'river' running through the middle of the resort but they built a artifical retaining wall and it spoilt the ambience of the space. If they had instead made a soft slope towards the river bank it would've been nice, you'll get a sort of 'Canadian river' feel. In the picture you can see the shalets in the background. 

Ancasa Apartment Hotel

Next stop we went to Ancasa. It's a hotel apartment facing the sea and so, there was a strong updraft that consistenly blew at us...nice...haha... The landscape was replicated to follow Bali style with ijok lanterns i think and having small wakafs for massages and relaxation. The landscape was quite big and was well maintained. Keeping it in order definitely made it look nice.

Corus Hotel

After that we went to Corus Hotel. GUESS WHO I SAW!!! Read on...XD At Corus Hotel we have to enter going downwards into this huge volume of space that has water elements all over. Very nice. It directs you to a sea view as well as the swimming pool. So we were walking around then i noticed that there were a lot of people wearing the same coloured shirts. Then i noticed some of them wore Revolution shirts. Then i saw some wearing Acts Church shirts. THEN GUESS WHO I SAW!! haha...none other than Ps. Kenneth Chin himself. Seemed that the young adults of his church were having a camp there. Saw Revo videos on youtube. Can feel the excitement though i'm here in KL..waahahahah...Great job pastor, keep it up~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6vx2n6u5sY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIQphSkk2G8

Our final visit was at Aviallon Resort. Very shangri-la-ish. Usage of timber made it seem to fit in  our local context. Very upclass so we couldnt take photos XP ...haha...the place resembles tanjung aru shangri-la resort, has the whole shalet thing, nice lobby with changing levels at the end to direct guests to rooms or restaurant (i presume).

coming up

Part 3: Pearl Island

The road not taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

and having perhaps the better claim

because it was grassy and wanted wear;

though as for that, the passing there

had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

in leaves no feet had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less travelled by,

and that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost-

Sometimes in life you have to make tough decisions that could change your life forever, i made a choice that was tough.

Hospitality Part 1

Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host, and it also refers to the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill.

more info; wikipedia

Its my final semester and we're currently on our last project designing a 4-6 storey urban hotel/resort. Went on a few visits around KL, would be going to PD and penang for more soon, bit lazy to post pictures here, if you're interested you can find them online or scout around facebook.

Anyway gonna feature one hotel here, its known as hotel maya located along jalan ampang i think, very near KLCC. 

Outside it's nothing to shout about but inside the interior is designed and thought of well. It has a simple layout but the space inside creates a unique character for the building. I'm not sure whether these photos can be put up because my visiting group weren't allowed to take photos.

This is the lobby area. As you enter you come into a triple volume space that has a spiral staircase made out of wood and the lobby has water features all around. Smooth waterfalls over weaved patterns of stone cladding create a soft tone as a background sound. Located nearby are the receptionist counter, cafe and bar and access to floors above. The entrance is a glass facade with panels orientated perpendicular to it to give it a vertical louvered effect. I think they changed the layout a bit because in this photo the entrance went through a bamboo box but now it just goes through a sliding glass door (very nice whooshy thing-a-ma-jigg) and you'll walk across a water body on a dynamically orientated wooden platform.

This is the seating area for the cafe. Besides the conventional seating on the ground level, they have an additional platform that rises slightly above the ground with its edges cantilevered slightly, giving it a 'floating' effect. Behind is the waterfall on stone that has water engineered to fall at a certain rate to give it a cool effect. Stagnant water surrounding the area gives the area a cool calm sense of place.

As you go up the spiral staircase, you'll come to a foyer that has lounges by the sides and if you were to walk ahead on you'll enter a open air atrium that goes all the way up. Don't have photo XD. It has parking for vehicles and the area acts as a sort of parking/garden/open-air/lepak place area. From there you can access rooms and offices which are equally nice but no photos though.

This is one of the lounges. One of the lounges has this nice 'wooden' table which is actually wood. A tree trunk that has been divided into four quarters. No picture. =( From the picture you can see a huge column that branches out to support the floors above. Throughout the hotel there are several of these as well that add up to the character of the building. 

All in all the use of these simple structures, elements, volumes have added up to the manifestation and comprehensiveness of this not-too-shabby building enabling to win a PAM Award back in 2006. So visit it (or stay there) if you want to, its worth the time and money. Facilities I'm not sure what they provide so you'll have to check yourself.

This was taken outside on a fire escape staircase of hotel maya (wasn't suppose to be there haha)


p/s: in KL didn't manage to visit Hilton and others...heard it was nice XP