Malik Watkins's Bloglines

Reflecting on the past few days in Singapore, that was certainly an amazing experience. Particularly from the concept of local government. I work in the field of City & Regional Planning….so to see a city functioning in such a manner, taking on the problems that cities have head on, and not forgetting the social value side of it…well, that was professional nirvana….particularly when you get a chance to see it not from afar as simply a tourist, but up close and personal…so that you can feel, smell and taste it. Landing in Penang, immediately there is a different sense. Chinga Airport in Singapore is obviously one of the top airports on the Planet. Other airports work, obviously, but Chinga is the type of Airport you go and visit…like a mall with a swimming pool, restaurants and a movie theater…you get my drift…Landing in Penang, the environment feels a bit more organic. Not that modernity is not organic, certainly, modernization can have its roots in that which is organic…but, let’s put it like this… We all have our favorite clothing items. It may be pants, a jacket or a hat. It may not be brand new, doesn’t have the new material or all the bells and whistles…in fact, it may be kind of worn, a little ragged even…I have a couple of leisure jackets that I wear. One is very nice, the kind you where when you have to look up-to-date and together…and I have another that is of similar style, worn, strings and the knitting hanging of off it, a couple of holes and tears…but, it feels so good and comfortable…I LOVE IT!!!! A different kind of organic…something that feels like you’ve grown together and you can just lay all the way back and relax…well, landing in Penang…that’s the feeling I got 🙂 Something about places such as this…you immediately see the historical over-tones….places such as Colon or Panama, Cuba even…where it seems as though all around the world in certain cities, development and modernization all stopped at the same time. Sort of has that old world look and feel to it. Obviously, there is a common core reason for this…maybe we can get into that at another time, but for now…it is Penang. Penang is an Island just off the coast of Malaysia. Although, this is an opportunity to get a glimpse of Malaysian culture, keep in mind that there is a very strong Chinese population/influence here. So, while we are talking Malaysia, everything that takes place here would not necessarily be directly reflective of, let’s say, Kuala Lumpur. Penang though is a welcome stop, for one…my feet still hurt and I am a bit cranky 🙂 so I am looking forward to the hotel.

Now, this isn’t just a blog on hotel rooms, but some things must be shown….I love the old school look and feel of the room…lots of stained wood, stain glass window, but with a modernized bath room…and you always have to be thankful for the Bedai 🙂 Having that much wood around you just adds a certain ambiance to the environment…nice…

Well, tired from the road….need to get a bit or rest…we will get around Penang shortly!!!!