Pigeon Hotel
from New York to Kampar
I drove 187 kilometers to Kampar.
A Century ago this was a booming tin mining settlement. Today out of 100 000 inhabitants, 20 000 of them are university students. As we pass the wooden houses of a once named ‘New Village”, my toddler remarked that the buildings look dead and broken.
Main Street on a Friday(A Muslim Sabbath), a ghost town.
I’m staying in the newer part of town, at the self styled ‘Grand Kampar’
A dome on the 8th floor of this hotel, and faux balconies for every room, might give the impression of grandeur on a foggy day.
The faux balconies deserve special mention.
They exist to conceal the air con compressors for each room.
My room has an arched window that faces out, which I must admit is quite grand especially since it frames the green hills beyond. It also has a side window (but no door) that faces into the faux balcony with its air con compressor. The front of the balcony is covered with chicken wire from top to bottom which says everything about the true grandeur of this place.
The chicken wire seems to exist to keep the birds off the balcony.
But, piles of caked excrement, baked by the aircon compressor, some feathers and a bird skeleton attest to the fact that nature finds away.
The decor of the room reminds me of the hotel I once stayed at in New York. It was opposite Maddison Square Garden. I forget its name… I tried locating it by retracing my steps on google maps to no avail. If you start at time square and walk towards Maddison Square Garden, you should find the hotel on the left.
It might not be there anymore…
It had a brass plate in the lifts with mostly round buttons for the floors, but a special larger button, 4 buttons long, to fit the large letters that read ‘Lobby’.
In the Lobby there was a ’business centre’ with two rows of CRT monitors facing opposite walls. And it’s most impressive feature was some large mid century art nouveou pieces on its walls opposite the reception, stubbornly harking back to a time when the hotel most probably was grand.
It wasn’t grand in 2016 or 17 when I visited it.
It’s room as I remembered it was less grand than the Grand Kampar although it was clad in the same 5 shades of brown. Which is why I recall it today.
I’m in Kampar for a Church Family Retreat with 82 other families, who are here in an effort to try and raise good kids and build strong families. At the moment, there’s no other place I’d rather be.
While I’m here for my family, a secondary benefit is it adds richness to my work as a Childrens illustrator, because I feel the books I make always serve to raise good kids and build strong families. Consider how your life adds texture to your work…
TenMinuteArtist Prompt:
Contrast
Compare and connect two different locations. Or draw a pigeon
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