Sam bought a book about KL's Chinatown and found some interesting places to visit. I think she picked this hotel because of the name 'TianJing' which is from the Chinese word meaning sky-well (often carelessly translated as air-well). The Chinese word 'sky' represents more than air; tian-qi (weather), tian-kong (air, heaven) and so forth.
The hotel is built across two typical shop lots - it appears that the rooms are planned parallel to the street which meant that they would have no views or windows. This problem is solved by introducing a long sky-well along one party wall (with its neighbour), this allows light and air into the hotel rooms on both floors. Along the other party wall, a similar treatment is given to the hotel corridors and stairs, and likely gave the hotel its name.
The street views are given to more communal spaces such as Lim Kee Cafe on the ground floor, and the Nanyang Lounge on the upper floor (where guests can have breakfast). Very sensible.
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| A plan of our room - it reminded me of the rooms in my grandmother's house |
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| two long 'tian jing(s)' are introduced; one for the rooms and the other for the corridor and service spaces. |
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| the basin stand and toilet outside alludes to a time when this was the norm in the upstairs rooms |
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| basin stand and spitoon |
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| the smell of mosquito coils burning embellished my memory of nights at grandmother's house. |
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| The upstairs and downstairs hotel guests share a tree in the courtyard |
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| The upstairs corridor is 'cut' back to allow light and rain to filter to the ground floor. The chippings in mesh is a floor drain. |
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| Any singing in the shower is done quietly. |
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