IN the course of my work as a freelance journalist covering mostly lifestyle subjects, I have been very fortunate to visit some of the most interesting places not just in my own country (and believe me there are a lot of them here in the Philippines) but also in Southeast Asia. For the most part, my experiences in these places have been quite unforgettable.
Singapore is one country I most often found myself in. It's true that there are quite a few people who would say that Singapore is far from the most exciting place in the planet, especially if you don't have enough shopping money to spend. But there are also those, myself included, who consider the clean, orderly and generally laid-back ambiance of this country to be refreshing, relaxing, therapeutic and very much stress-free. And yes, I know those descriptions pretty much mean the same thing.
Singapore, however, is not without its own share of pleasant surprises and in addition to the increasingly vibrant tourist attractions and events that the country has to offer, there are also a good number of interesting places to stay while you're there. One of them is the New Majestic Hotel which made me feel like a very welcome guest in 2006.
Here's a revised version of an article I wrote about boutique hotels in general that included this rather unusual "design hotel." Perhaps one of the many good reasons why the country is now fondly referred to as Uniquely Singapore:
As its architecture suggests, this hotel is in fact a refurbished old building. One can see traces of its storied past upon entering its lobby. The over-exposed ruins of the concrete ceiling of the original 1928 structure balances a showcase of glass orbs, restored vintage Compton fans and old-fashioned barber chairs which along with the chic, period colonial furniture is something that you only usually see in glossy designer magazines.
The New Majestic Hotel has only 30 rooms but boy, does each one stand out from the other. Nine emerging Singapore artists namely Safaruddin Abdul Hamid (aka Dyn), Andre Tan, Lee Meiling, HelestonChew, Tay Bee Aye, Kng Mian Tze,Miguel Chew, Sandra Leeand Justin Lee were tapped to design these rooms and guests are greeted with a brief description of their respective works right beside the door of the rooms.
Bordering on over-the-top, the New Majestic Hotel pushes the boutique hotel concept boundaries to rather uncharted territories, if not the extreme. Its rooms are categorized as mirror rooms, hanging bed rooms, aquarium rooms and loft rooms.
Although very impressed with the hotel’s overall concept and execution, I initially felt that functionality was compromised in favor of style, at least in certain rooms. On the plus side, a plasma or LCD wisdescreen TV’s, an iPod charging dock and a Bose personal CD/radio stereo are all standard features of each room. The compact loft room that I was originally booked in also has a wall painted with the image of a bird in a cage hanging in a tree, a nice touch.
I had a little problem with this design, though which requires guests to climb the steep ladder (yes, ladder not stairs) to get to the queen-sized bed. It looks really cool from a design standpoint but not too practical in terms of, say, access to the bathroom (should one needs to go) or even the door in case somebody knocks and the guest is up there in his bed.
Airing these concerns with the hotel staff eventually led to my transfer to one of their mirror rooms, an upgrade at surprisingly no extra cost, at least in my case. For those who like to watch and be watched, the mirror room which is described as “a continuous ribbon of mirrors that begin on the walls, climbing up and on the ceiling, and returning to the ground to form a bedhead” is the closest thing to a narcissist's wet dream. That aside, it's very cozy, too.
Equally impressive are other standard features like the slick rain shower systems with hydro-massage functions in the rooms and the free internet access. Even those without laptops can avail of free computer use (Apple MacBooks, no less!) with broadband internet access at the reception area. Only two were currently available at the time and since I was part of a Singapore Tourism Board media fam that included nine other journalists who also wanted to use the MacBooks, there were quite a few times when we had to take turns using them.
Our rather tight itinerary could not afford me the time to try out its other amenities such as the vintage cast-iron bathtub in my mirror room, the funky-looking swimming pool, the equally state-of-the-art gym facililties and the Majestic Restaurant offering modern Chinese cuisine.
But that's okay. All told, I had an extraordinary time at the New Majestic Hotel and yes, I'll be more than happy to be a guest here again and experience another, well, "majestic" treatment sometime soon.
For more info, visit http://www.newmajestichotel.com.
AS I hinted in my last post, the nice thing about maintaining a blog is that veteran feature writers like myself can use it to compliment what we write for print. In my case, reposting published works also gives me a chance to not just improve, revise and update on my original drafts but also to recall and write about the story behind the story.
In Electrolychee's case, I stumbled upon this dynamic duo in 2007 when they were named as one of Jansport's "indie icons" and also as among the ambassadors of Lipton Hot Tea. Anyone or any group that makes that kind of noise in the same year is bound to get some media attention as well. They certainly got mine.
Turns out I already know one half of Electrolychee. I actually encountered Bru (not her real name, of course) on several coverages when she was still writing about music for Pulp and I think later, Burn and I was surprised to learn that she was into the arts as well although it doesn't seem far-fetched given her creative background. I interviewed her and her partner Marcushiro during one lazy, late afternoon at Saguijo where they were holding their exhibit there at the time.
When I was writing the story for the Manila Bulletin, I committed a gaffe when my research on one of their supposed influences, Jason Moss turned out to be dead wrong. Wikipedia says the Jason Moss that I wrote about in my story is "a writer about serial killers." Bru later told me that he is not the same person they cited as their influence. Of course not, what the hell was I thinking?
But that's probably why blogs exist. It doesn't just give written works that appeared originally only in print a new lease on life and get a chance to be appreciated by a bigger, online audience. But it also allows booboos to be rectified the second time around.
So here's a revised and updated version of that original 2007 piece. And yes, the Jason Moss referred here is no longer that writer about serial killers. Turns out he's a reputable artist in his own right.
STRANGE CREATIONS By EDWIN P. SALLAN
“WE are two creative souls from different worlds. One came from the land of robots and another from the land of ponies. We are armed with an arsenal of color swatches and a penchant for harmonizing chaos. We merge digital and analog art like a poetic dance to a punk rock tune on acid. We make design, illustration and strange creations. In electro, we lychee.”
Big words that don’t seem to make much sense, does it? But for the creative duo that makes up the sought after graphic studio known as Electrolychee, their uncanny approach to art that’s neither too profound nor too nonsensical is also their gift.
These two talented individuals who answer to the equally intriguing names of Marcushiro and Bru have over five years of commercial design experience, Electrolychee’s brand of “slick, computer-generated vector art with organic hand drawn imagery” have individually and collectively, graced a good number of books for children and adults, magazines, web publications, murals, clothing brands and most recently, album covers of alternative acts like Cambio, Drip, Sound, Paramita, Chillitees and Imago that pretty much brought them into the mainstream.
With a moniker that according to them is actually a fusion of two words meaning “digital” and “organic,” Electrolychee’s style is as Bru would put it, “pop-art inspired.” “It’s fun and playful and doesn’t take itself seriously.”
Artists, like writers, are rarely as interesting as their actual works but this doesn’t seem to apply in the case of Marcushiro and Bru.Both are actually good enough to strike on their own and were fairly doing well respectively prior to their partnership. Marcushiro is a graphic designer who already found some success as a children’s book illustrator even before he finished his advertising arts course at UST while Bru is a self-taught artist and writer who was actually rejected by her own grade school Art Club before eventually getting the last laugh when her work for Paramita’s debut album snagged the 2005 Awit Awards Best Album Packaging trophy.
Even with such individual accolades, getting together was a no-brainer. “We had a lot of similarities to begin with. We both love the same things, pop culture, mga kakengkoyan, kitsch, Lipton teas and yes, digital art so in September of 2005, Electrolychee was hatched,” Marcushiro quips.
The duo cites influences as varied as free-spirited American artist Tim Biskup, manga-influenced Superflat artist Aya Takano, Jason Moss and our very own Louie Cordero, author of the now cult classic comic book, Nardong Tae (not a typo, folks) and who also recently designed the latest album of Radioactive Sago Project aptly titled Tanginamo Andaming Nagugutom sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Parin.
The duo's affinity for album covers stems for their love of music—alternative music, to be more specific. “Music is a big part of our lychee lives,” Bru enthuses. “We are always swayed by striking album art and design since it acts as the ‘face’ of the album and translates the music visually. Album packaging can be so much more than square sleeves of paper and we want to push the boundaries of album packaging design here.”
Electrolychee has no qualms of approaching artists who they think plays music that’s consistent with their vision and design philosophies. Two such groups were Drip and the Chillitees who gave them free rein and full confidence with their album designs.
Strange creations, they call them. But Electrolychee’s work is not just limited to album covers. In their website, they also make tongue-in-cheek t-shirts, tank tops, badges and clocks with printed catch phrases like Ek-Ek, Panget at the Disco, When I Say ChukChak, you say Chenes, Bangs Not Dead, Matring Bling and I’m Not Ukay Today.
And as extensions of their cover art, their 3D model toys are equally fascinating. “Our first batch of Third World Toys is inspired by the music albums we designed for bands such as Cambio, Sound and Paramita,” Marcushiro notes. “Because these album sleeves already tell visual stories, we want to bring these stories to life via three-dimensional toys.”
Now after four years of the business, Electrolychee’s growing popularity has approached rock star proportions. Along with Rock Drilon, Cynthia Alexander and Lourd De Veyra, they were honored as “indie icons” during the 40th Anniversary celebration of backpack-manufacturer Jansport. They were also part of the distinguished company of Lipton Hot Tea brand ambassadors that included Up Dharma Down, filmmaker Lino Cayetano, photographer Jake Versoza, Opinion columnist Patricia Evangelista and young entrepreneur Happy David.
So in electro, they lychee? Well, yeah, in electro, they lychee indeed.
In what has become a much-anticipated tattoo lovefest, the just concluded Tribal Dutdutan '09 once again brought the country's best "skin specialists" together under one roof, at least for one "illustrated weekend."
Now on its 9th year, it aims to promoted tattoos as mainstream art and not as the inappropriate expression of self-expression nor a symbol of society's bad elements. Last year, I had the chance to interview premier tattoo artist Ricky Sta. Ana for One Philippines, the entertainment and lifestyle magazine for the millions of Filipinos overseas who want to read about positive and heartwarming developments back home.
A moving force behind the Dutdutan series, Ricky then told me that he was glad with how Dutdutan has evolved over the years, from a mere "gathering of musicians, tattoo artists, painters, tattoo enthusiasts and music lovers in Malate," to a very well-attended convention of a now universally-recognized industry.
This year's edition is the biggest yet, as it marks the first time that Dutdutan brought international tatoo artists coming from countries like Malaysia, Saipan, Thailand, Singapore, France, Holland & New Zealand and essentially making our own tattoo artists as at par with the world's best.
Even better, the festival also featured the likes of Tribal Gear's founder, Bobby Ruiz, drummer Wuv, who literally hits the skins for POD and graffiti artist OG Abel, all based in San Francisco. There were also exhibition fights of professional fighters from the Universal Reality Combat Championship or URCC and another staging of the Tribal Bikini Contest, Tribal Gear's sizzling bikini open contest of Tribal Gear and a crowd favorite since last year.
For more details on Dutdutan 2009 including updates on everything that transpired last September 18 and 19, please check out http://www.dutdutan2009.com.
