Before I start on this post, happy lunar New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a great lunar New Year with all the red packets, so many goodies to eat and also the 5 day holiday! I surely did enjoy mine.
For the lunar New Year, my family and I made our way to Johor Baru on Saturday for the reunion dinner as my father’s parents were in Malaysia. We changed our usual routine as the new customs in Malaysia was causing a lot of traffic jam making it very difficult for my family to go back and forth between Singapore and Johor Baru. We then decided to stay at a hotel in Johor Baru to avoid all the jam, and I did not like the idea one bit. I did not want to stay in some hotel, I wanted to sleep in my bed and I did not want to be away from home for 3 days. Well, sometimes in life you can’t have what you wish for, and so we put up at a hotel called ‘Grand Paragon Hotel’. Sounds great, right? No. You’re wrong. Yes, I know the name sounds nice, but not the hotel itself.
When we first drove into the car park of the hotel, it already gave me a bad impression of the hotel. First of all, the design of the car park was very poor as the path was so narrow, a car could barely turn around corners, and second, it stank like nothing I ever smelled before. When I was still in the car, I could already smell the stench of the car park due to poor air ventilation. Perhaps it was only the car park that was not very good, but maybe the room looks as good as the pictures on the internet. When we entered the lobby, the same stench still lingered in the air, causing me to hold my nose and breath through my mouth. I really wondered how all the staff of the hotel working in the lobby survived. When we were checking in, we found that our rooms were on the smoking floor! Great. The entire floor smelled of smoke, and I hurriedly rushed into the rooms.
I have to admit the rooms were what we expected it to be, only better. I made a beeline for the window as I had wanted to look at the view as we were on the 24th floor. I really did not know what to say as I reached the window. Unlike Singapore, Johor Baru was made up of tiny houses covering the land, with only one or two ‘tall’ buildings. I was disappointed at the view and went to look at my room. I thought that the rooms were not bad; at least there was no stench and no smoke.
On Sunday night, just when I was about to head for dreamland, I heard some sort of cracking noise and I wondered if this building was safe or not. The noise did not stop, and I began to start worrying about my life. What if the building collapsed? I was on the 24th floor, I would surely die. Then my brother shouted,’ Come and look at the fireworks!’ I stood next to him and admired the scenery of Johor Baru, this was much better when compared to in the day. Almost every house released fireworks as I realised it was midnight and the beginning of the lunar New Year, exploded in the sky, with the dark sky as a background, the scene was spectacular. Some of the houses even had fire crackers and I realised that was what was making the cracking sound.
On Monday, we visited my grandparents and when I saw my grandmother, I felt really sorry for her as she was very ill. She had contracted some liver problems a year or two back and even had to remove one of her eyes. She has been growing weaker and weaker as each day went by and i felt really sad when my eyes set sight on her. After visiting, we were on our way back to Singapore on the causeway when I saw the huge traffic jam on the opposite side caused by the many people going to Johor for the reunion dinner. Fortunately, we had stayed at the hotel, or we would be in that jam. Once again, happy lunar New Year!
For the lunar New Year, my family and I made our way to Johor Baru on Saturday for the reunion dinner as my father’s parents were in Malaysia. We changed our usual routine as the new customs in Malaysia was causing a lot of traffic jam making it very difficult for my family to go back and forth between Singapore and Johor Baru. We then decided to stay at a hotel in Johor Baru to avoid all the jam, and I did not like the idea one bit. I did not want to stay in some hotel, I wanted to sleep in my bed and I did not want to be away from home for 3 days. Well, sometimes in life you can’t have what you wish for, and so we put up at a hotel called ‘Grand Paragon Hotel’. Sounds great, right? No. You’re wrong. Yes, I know the name sounds nice, but not the hotel itself.
When we first drove into the car park of the hotel, it already gave me a bad impression of the hotel. First of all, the design of the car park was very poor as the path was so narrow, a car could barely turn around corners, and second, it stank like nothing I ever smelled before. When I was still in the car, I could already smell the stench of the car park due to poor air ventilation. Perhaps it was only the car park that was not very good, but maybe the room looks as good as the pictures on the internet. When we entered the lobby, the same stench still lingered in the air, causing me to hold my nose and breath through my mouth. I really wondered how all the staff of the hotel working in the lobby survived. When we were checking in, we found that our rooms were on the smoking floor! Great. The entire floor smelled of smoke, and I hurriedly rushed into the rooms.
I have to admit the rooms were what we expected it to be, only better. I made a beeline for the window as I had wanted to look at the view as we were on the 24th floor. I really did not know what to say as I reached the window. Unlike Singapore, Johor Baru was made up of tiny houses covering the land, with only one or two ‘tall’ buildings. I was disappointed at the view and went to look at my room. I thought that the rooms were not bad; at least there was no stench and no smoke.
On Sunday night, just when I was about to head for dreamland, I heard some sort of cracking noise and I wondered if this building was safe or not. The noise did not stop, and I began to start worrying about my life. What if the building collapsed? I was on the 24th floor, I would surely die. Then my brother shouted,’ Come and look at the fireworks!’ I stood next to him and admired the scenery of Johor Baru, this was much better when compared to in the day. Almost every house released fireworks as I realised it was midnight and the beginning of the lunar New Year, exploded in the sky, with the dark sky as a background, the scene was spectacular. Some of the houses even had fire crackers and I realised that was what was making the cracking sound.
On Monday, we visited my grandparents and when I saw my grandmother, I felt really sorry for her as she was very ill. She had contracted some liver problems a year or two back and even had to remove one of her eyes. She has been growing weaker and weaker as each day went by and i felt really sad when my eyes set sight on her. After visiting, we were on our way back to Singapore on the causeway when I saw the huge traffic jam on the opposite side caused by the many people going to Johor for the reunion dinner. Fortunately, we had stayed at the hotel, or we would be in that jam. Once again, happy lunar New Year!
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