All in all, the stay at Royal Penang Hotel during our Penang trip was a pleasant one. This was the second time we been to the place, the first some three years back, when the hotel was known as Dorsett Penang. It was not a bad hotel back then, when my sister Julia and her family also came along during the stay, and Irfan was dipped under water during one of the swim. He was traumatised then and for the following year and a half, refused to enter a swimming pool. He was only two then. He got over it now.
Same as the last time, we had the apartment suite, which was huge. And we also had the partition door to the next room opened, for our maid to stay. This time around, my parents used the next room. And my sister was not with us for this trip. The suite consisted of three separate areas, the living room with a lounge and dining area, plus a small kitchenette with sink, a microwave oven and a full size refrigerator. The second area, the biggest was the bedroom, with a king-sized bed, sofa, another TV and a small study table. The last was the dressing area, with a walk-in closet and the bathroom. There was also a balcony there but the door was locked for security reason. Basically, the room was huge. And with the next room was also opened up, the boys kept running from one end to another.
The main bedroom
The whole length of the room, going into my parents room next door. Irfan was running from one end to the next.
The main living area, with a dining table to seat four, and the main lounge.
The balcony from the dressing areaWe were there for a three nights. Certainly, room-wise, there was nothing to complain about. Very comfortable and spacious. The only problem we had was the cleaners were a bit slow to clean our room. In fact, we had to call housekeeping on our second day to get the cleaners in. Another issue was the limited parking space that they provide. Although it was free and covered, I counted that there were at most 40 slots. In a 20-storey hotel, I thought that they should provide more.
Food was just average. Breakfast was just OK, nothing special to mention. It was enough for us, although they charged Idlan at children's rate. Apparently, the suite only comes with a couple of breakfast vouchers.
The cute kitchenette with the fridge and microwave oven.
And Irfan was still at it .....
the pool on the fourth floorNext, the swimming pool. It was pretty basic. There was no life-guard and no drinks served by the pool. The gym located on the same floor was closed for renovation. Surprisingly, there was no spa at the hotel.
The hotel offered discount for government servants, an all it took was for me to show my UM identification card. We got something like 20% off, which made a lot of difference. We hardly sampled any of the hotel meals as this being Penang, there were plenty of food everywhere, not to mention a KFC outlet located right across the street from the hotel. The hotel also has a connecting bridge to Penang Plaza right next door for food and shopping. The TV offered all the terrestrial channels plus Disney, one movie and one sports channel. Our suite had a DVD player should we fancy watching something.
The strategic location of the hotel, being right smack in the middle of Georgetown made it definitely worth considering again when we come back. Our usual place to stay was along Gurney Drive, but this time around, with the change of management, we decided to give this place another go. Compared to when it used to be called Dorsett, there had been hardly any change. Should you want to find out more about the hotel, please click here. And more stories about this trip here.
Friday, August 19, 2011 at 10:32PM 
The Ambulance Accident
The resultant impact caused further injury to the patient as well as the accompanying Doctor and Nurse. The Doctor escaped with relatively minor injuries, but the nurse was not so lucky. Even though she survived the initial accident, and managed to crawl out from the wreckage, she succumbed to her injuries yesterday.
She was 30 years of age, and was due to be married after Raya. The patient they were carrying to HKL also died earlier.
This is tragic and hammered down a couple of important points. First, are transferring patients, or in that matter, the ambulance itself, is a safe mode of transport in our country? Look at the state of the vans? Some of them were deplorable.
Secondly, how many of us gave way to ambulance if it tried to pass us, sirens blaring in Federal Highway? Well, we reluctantly, myself included, do most of time, but we climbed the curb in double quick time if it was an outrider with the Sultan or politician tailing behind. This is just shameful. Our attitude as a community need to change.
The solution to the first question would involve money - upgrading the aging fleet of ambulance would take a bit of doing. If my patient need ambulance, and they could afford it, I would ask them to hire a private ambulance, no doubt about it. Imagine carrying an oxygen tank in those ambulances. No thanks.
Insisting on Police escort for important transfer should be the way forward, But there is a catch. Only last Monday, I arranged a transfer to Hospital Melaka from UMMC and it took the Ward Sister four phone calls. Imagine if you add to that contacting the Police for escort. As the the saying goes …. Terima kasih saja lah!
Three years ago, I was unfortunate enough to learn that a houseman from Seremban had serious injuries and was in UMMC ICU in a coma for a few weeks. I remember seeing the distraught husband - also a houseman - by her bedside. They were only married a few months. I was not sure if she was carrying a child. This incidences were not in isolation, but unfortunately, since it does not carry any political milage, none of the MPs harped on about it ….. hence no solutions, and more Health Care worker's life are at risk ….
Please take a minute to recite Alfatihah to the victim.