What does a night in the museum really feel like?

Definitely none of those nightmare-ish experience where ancient animals survive to claw you alive.  I've stayed in an art museum before - well, sorta.  To be exact, it's an entire art island on its own which is called Naoshima in the South of mid Japan, which was truly an unforgettable experience.  Just to give you an idea how beautiful it was:

The Bennese Art Site at Naoshima was designed by Tadao Ando and he is one of the world's most revered architects.  Speckled around the island are some of the world's finest artists and one for example is Yayoi Kusuma's spotted pumpkin - you could see works by Andy Warhol and Claude Monet (yup, there's where they kept em' waterlilies!).  If art is your thang, you've come to the right place.  Dug out some of my photos I took when I was there in 2008 and boy, that's nostalgia...

Here's Cat conquering the world.

Yea, little guy likes ice cream on waffles :)

The underground museum that you could 'experience' art via immersion like the first picture you saw on this post.

Yup, that's me.  Walking Cat.

Yayoi's famous spotted vege.

Up, close and personal with the pumpkin.

The Benesse Art House, hotel.

Clean, simple design - truly Andao's blueprint.

The rooms were simple, equipped with 'smart' carpentry system.  A push and a pull of a board/cover/wall, you could transform the place to something else.

Cat reading up on Naoshima.

Love healthy breakfast :)

That's Cat and my Japanese mom asking for directions.

Glass steps to the shrine.

Beautiful 'noren' - the piece of cloth that's hung at the entrance of Japanese traditional homes.

Functional art - toldja they were speckled everywhere.

Another of Yayoi Kusuma's pumpkin installation.

Yes, brought back so much memories.  And in my pursuit of extraordinary travel experiences, I came across another boutique art hotel recently.  Now if this doesn't make your heart leap in excitement, I don't know what does:

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing HOMA - Hotel of Modern Art, Guilin, China.  Who would have thought there's such a fine piece of design in Guilin?  

Am planning a trip there in April.  Hey, landscape baby, wait for me :)

Malaysia: Heritage conservation of 'The Heritage Station Hotel of KL'.

This weekend, if you have nothing else better to do, try this: pack a night's worth of clothes and some toiletries, get together with some friends and check in to 'The Heritage Station Hotel of Kuala Lumpur' which is located where else but at the old KL railway station. Spooky it may seem, which is why I recommend you to take as many friends with you as possible, it's definitely a better and more interesting weekend spent than crawling like ants in the malls.

What really took me by surprise is beyond the fact that it's a quaint hotel that speaks so much of our history (think Coliseum Cafe in KL) but I hit one of the links which directed me to a passion-filled blog about a person(s) fight to conserve the heritage and educate the general public on the architect who did it all - A.B. Hubback whom if you don't already know, designed the Panggung Bandaraya and Carcosa Seri Negara as well (not to be mistaken with A.C. Norman who designed the Sultan abdul Samad building as both are famed for their Moorish styles).

Well, if you have Malaysian friends looking for some weekend ideas of if you have non-Malaysian friends looking for travel itineraries, then look no further. Click links above ;)

Hotel: M Hotel, Singapore.

If you're traveling to Singapore, a good place to rest is M Hotel on Anson Road. Located near to Tanjong Pagar MRT station, it's also at close proximity to Orchard area (just a short taxi ride away). Rooms are clean with not much frills and the bed is a little hard but service is really good. Go here to check out more.

Yea, I hate it too when the minibar is located at knee-level :S Why would you expect your customers to bend over everytime they need a drink or have some peanuts?

Hotel: Nexus Karambunai, Sabah.

Got spending some time in Sabah for work assignment and managed to catch some rest at the Nexus Karambunai Resort. I remember the time when it was first opened and so many raved about it being one of the best and few luxury resorts in Sabah. One thing I must say, it’s H U G E. Comes as no surprised when it’s like a state-size Club Med, fully self-contained with its own Lagoon and Nature Park, common rooms and luxury villas, 18-hole golf course and award winning Borneo Spa (which I later find it hard to believe). It’s easy to lose yourself in this resort, figuratively and literally speaking.

I’ve come to realized that the image of such resorts is usually reflective of the type of tourists that it plays host to. Here, you can expect to see a lot of non-native Asians – Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese. All escaping the winter chill from their home country. And on different seasons, you have Europeans and Middle-Easterners escaping the scorching summer to a more bearable balmy weather. This place caters to couples, friends and families, basically those who travel in a bunch. So during peak seasons, you might as well forget about listening to yourself especially at public areas such as the beach. If you want privacy aside from your room, the Borneo Spa could be one option. Or if really want to do some serious thinking, maybe playing a game of giant chess can help boost some juice. Apply sun block in advanced though.

Comfortable rooms, big for two but amenities are basic. My apprehension with this kind of big resorts has always been maintenance. Luxury doesn’t gel when the towels are fraying and wood is chipping. Obviously, once again, the word luxury is used quite carelessly. So if you’re reading this during your ‘think’ break and will soon go back to the drawing board for your client’s brand strategy coincidentally selling ‘luxury’. PLEASE. Either drop it. Or live up to it.

Would I recommend Nexus Karambunai? Yes. Pack your bags, stay within the confinement of the resort that is bustling with activities which will keep you busy and perhaps hop on the shuttle to have some of the best seafoods in Kota Kinabalu. If you’re alone, then maybe this isn’t the best destination because this is definitely a place for bonding. If you’re feeling spendthrift though, invite some friends and rent one of the amazing beach front Villas and play ‘overnight tycoon’ who owns a private beach holiday home. Even if it’s just for a few nights. Now, this is the bit where luxury fits the bill.

Marketing: Co-creation means increasing perspectives, covering more overlooked spots.

Le Meridien launched its LM100 program with a vision to sign up 100 art and design experts as consultants to further differentiate the hotel chain from rest of the world. In this saturated space, hoteliers need to look for blue ocean to stay profitable and competitive. I thought it was kind of cool to see such an innovative marketing program (launched in 2007) and would really love to see what kind of hybrid ideas come out of it. I've not (yet) stayed in Le Meridien KL before but some quick visits brought back vague artsy impression. Time to check in perhaps?

On a separate note. This co-creating thing. I'm thinking how to redefine researches - turning cold, unfriendly focus groups to consumer think tanks. I know creative will hate this. Because they feel that no one should ever dictate creative boundaries. But I thought sometimes, having outsiders to share view points gives us a different perspective to things. And yes, I am pretty adamant about that whether creative likes it or not. We shall see.