Roomful of Memories

Hotel Intercontinental always brings back fond memories of my youth. When we were kids, we'd go to Cafe Jeepney and eat inside an actual jeepney which was transformed into a dining area. (They don't have this anymore, and that's quite sad.) There are also memories of Easter and the two highlights were 1.) Egg hunting by the pool, and 2.) the fluffy rabbit mascot that would grace the occasion.

There was a wedding I organized here, and one of the principal sponsors showed up wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a vest. (She was the wife of a politician who just came from the campaign trail.) And of course, there's Emin's debut - which I've always marked as one of the most memorable events of my teen life. I always smile when I remember the tuxedos, the cotillion, the midnight bonding sessions and walking to Dunkin Donuts in our formal wear at 3am.

Those memories came rushing back this week because I stayed at the Intercon, and in a room similar to the one that we stayed in. There have been major renovations at the hotel, so the color of the room, the furnishings and the ambience has changed. But despite the make over, some things in the room still remain the same.

One of them is the bed. This is the same king-size bed that the hotel had more than a decade back, and I remember around 6 people trying to squeeze in and sleep here. The headboard and side tables are new, though. What used to be victorian and beige colored is now dark wood and more sleek.



They used to have a couch before, but the lounge chair something we didn't have. Then again, someone just might have had it removed since we were such a big group and we needed as much floor space as we could get.



The window is the same: huge, panoramic and still looking out to Ayala Avenue. What's changed dramatically, though, is the view. When Emin celebrated her debut, Rustan's was still the blue, mosaic building and they haven't build the Ascott (the hotel formerly known as Oakwood) yet.




Staying in this room for a few days was such a nice memory trip. It felt like re-living those fun moments of my youth and I've always liked taking walks down memory lane. There's one thing I don't like, though. Having my name misspelled for the nth time. Gosh, I've been here so many times, and they make the same mistake each time.