The Mandarin Orchard

I must admit that I have a soft spot for old hotels. In Malaysia, we do not have many of those, and if there were, they were all still relatively new. That was why I was always keen on E&O, Smokehouse and similar colonial-like establishment.

In KL, there were not that many of those. So, I tended to gravitate toward hotels established since the 70s. Shangri-La in KL, Hilton PJ to name a few. The service tended to be more established although I was detecting a decline in the service at the PJ hotel mentioned.

The rather understated main lobby, located on the fifth floorAdorning the ceiling of the lobby was this rather unique detailWhen I was in Singapore recently, I stayed at Mandarin Orchard. Not exactly a new hotel, but certainly they offered modern amenities. The hotel was originally opened in 1971, and since then, they have added new wings. I stayed at one of the newer wing during my overnight stay and the service was excellent. Food was nice as well.

Only before I left that I realised that there was a boutique mall at the ground floor of the hotel, which included outlet from Tumi, Bell and Ross as well as a Leica. I asked for a grip for my Q, but they didn’t have it in stock ….

The hotel was located near a few of the major shopping outlets in Orchard Road, and an Apple outlet was only 5 minutes away. Managed to get a nice case for Anita’s phone during that trip. There was a couple of MRT stations right around the corner and a McDonald’s outlet behind my block. Certainly was a great location.

The Leica store at the hotel lobbyOne of the exit from my hotel. Straight from the lift from my floor.All the guests also had access to a mobile phone for them to take around from the room. It allowed me to make free phone calls to Malaysia in fact to 15 countries. A neat system and it had a free internet SIM at LTE speed. All free, unlimited internet. Shame that you couldn’t use it to tether!

The hotel also has free wifi, which is quite fast and all the things you would expect in a modern hotel ….

The hotel official website is here.

The Meeting Venue

Typically, the meeting venue I have been to were a long room with chairs and tables arranged in rows. So, when I attended the talk in Singapore this week, I was quite surprised by the arrangement. It was a rectangular room, but rather than the screen being at the long-end, it was at one of the sides.

The seats were then arranged in semi-circle, appearing as if I was attending a lecture at university or a meeting at the United Nations. They had screens on either sides of the stage, but during the video conference, you might have to strain your eyes to look at the projection at the opposite end while looking at the other screen at the presenter.

A bit strain to the neck as the screen and the video was a a different ends of the hallAlmost wrapped upThe venue itself was great. And since the arrangement were as such, I suspect that the room was purpose-built for small conferences such as this. I think the maximum they could fit into the hall was 100.

The other novelty about the place was it was located on the 35th floor of the hotel I stayed in, the Mandarin Orchard. Interesting.

Overnight in Singapore

I was invited to attend a forum in Singapore. The problem was, the meeting was sandwiched in the middle of my week, with clinic being opened tomorrow. Flying in on the evening before the meeting then flying home right after. No real time to rest.

But I would prefer to do that rather than spend another day. It would interrupt my work flow otherwise, and considering I was off a couple of weeks back, may be it was time to sit down and work ....

Cosy chairNot much of a view from my roomAll packed upI had the chance to do a bit of walking around the hotel I stayed in right after I arrived. And the first order of business would be to get Anita her iPhone cover. Still tricky to get covers for iPhone 7 in KL at the moment, but there plenty of them here in Singapore.

After that was done, it was time get some rest. Early start tomorrow morning.

Madagascar

Madagascar turned out to be a sleeper hit. The stage was huge and from far away you can see the hull of a ship. Similar to the one in the famous movie.

Into the belly .....

They were all excitedLook at the size of that .....Time for a breatherBut Irfan wanted to get on with things ....There were a couple of rides here, and we took the softer - but relatively wetter - option. The ride took us into the belly of the ship using a vessel, complete with splashes and puppet show. The rocking soundtrack on the background of course and before you leave at the other end, your whole family would be singing - "I got to move it, move it!, MOVE IT!"

Catchy indeed. And then we had popcorns and soda before we made our way to Hollywood for more food and gifts ……

New York

The first area you enter when you get into the Universal Studios is appropriately called Hollywood. We shall leave that for the last entry as that was the exit as well. We decided to take a clockwise turn, and the first stop would be New York.

There were mainly cafes here and cinemas. Cinemas with live and movie shows. Not much in the way of rides, but there were sing-along in the afternoons as well as the main site for the parade. We did not stay until the evening, so missed that.

A long walk, but luckily it was shadedBeware of the pot holesThere were authentic memorabilia here, with diners, true to the American ambiance. You can't help but to wonder if the mob would get you round the next corner. Gift shops aplenty, and it was a nice place to sit down for a coffee and plan for the day.

We decided to breeze through here as the boys were excited about Egypt and the Lost World.

Subway?An authentic-looking yellow cabCinemas at every cornerWhere's next?The next area was the Sci-Fi. The main attraction here was Transformers ride. Unfortunately, Anita was not keen as she is prone to vertigo. That was a shame, as I was really looking forward to this one. It was endorsed by the movie director as well and it was opened to much fanfare last year. If you get to the park, make sure you queue up for this one. I am sure it would be worth it.

Instead, we took the "Accelerator". Mainly we were sat in a cup and flung across the platform. Kid's tolerated that one OK. Next stop …. Egypt!