This short review is on the Jen Hotel (a Shangrila Hotel) on Orchard Gateway.
Got a club room for this two night stay for a meeting in this beautiful country Singapore. The club room provides access to the lounge and gym.
When you get to Orchard Gateway, you need to take the lift to the 10th floor to check in. Oh, the lift is horribly slow.
The mobile check is on the extreme right. Unfortunately, the girl didn’t know what to do when I showed her my mobile phone and the app that showed that I have checked in. It took quite a bit of time to get my room key because she had to ask the other attendant on what to do.
Finally, when I got my room key, I was off to my room. And the next set of lift was another wait as the lifts in this hotel are awfully slowwwww.
It’s a small room. No frills and the shower had no hot water. I didn’t bother to inform them anymore as I was tired and wouldn’t want to be changing rooms at this point.
Dinner was a quick one at the rooftop restaurant Trippi. The hamburger and mocktail was a decent one. The breeze was fine. The pool looked inviting. The view was stunning.
Breakfast starts at 7am. And the choices in the lounge area aren’t much but decent enough. It’s self service but even service wasn’t up to expectation for a Shangrila brand.
You’d expect that at the club floor or room, you’d get a bit of perks for the room. But that doesn’t apply here. All rooms have nothing in the room ref. If you wanted something to munch on or something to drink, they had a vending machine near the elevator for you. Talk about scrimping.
My final verdict? I’m wondering how it even got tagged as a 4 star hotel. Plain and simple – it’s 3 stars.
The relationship between the physician and the pharmaceutical industry is once again put in the spotlight due to an alleged “pyramid scheme” from doctors who engage in getting credits in exchange for prescriptions AND enticing colleagues to prescribe the products of the pharmaceutical company in order to earn additional credits and benefits.
The MCP was adopted in 2011 during the US APEC host year and was recognized by APEC leaders and ministers.
Six principles form the pillars of the MCP:
1. Healthcare and patient focus means everything we do is intended to benefit patients.
2. Integrity means dealing ethically, honestly and respectfully in everything we do.
3. Independence means to respect the autonomous decision-making of all parties, free from improper influence.
4. Legitimate intent means that everything we do is for the right reasons, is lawful, and aligns with the spirit and values of these principles.
5. Transparency means a general willingness to be open about our actions while respecting the legitimate commercial sensitivities and intellectual property rights.
6. Accountability means a willingness to be responsible for our actions and interactions.
During my term as director for the CDRR at the FDA, we constantly monitored and reminded the industry to manage their entanglements with physicians. While it is not wrong to promote any biopharmaceutical product, promotions should be within the scientific merits of the product, sans pomp and enticement.
Some physicians may not be able to discern entanglements with the industry as some believe that “gifts” are entitlements to them. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
The greater the value the gift, the greater the responsibility. Gifts do not need to be ostentatious to be a bribe. A bribe is a bribe, regardless of value. It is the intent that is crucial.
A lawyer commented that this practice is not illegal, but it is unethical.
Undue influence is legally defined as “influence by which a person is induced to act otherwise than by their own free will or without adequate attention to the consequences”. Undue influence clouds clinical judgement in the healthcare system.
The practice of medicine is not a business. Our relationship with patients rely on trust, compassion and respect. There should be no lines that blur the relationship between doctors and patients at all touch points.
And the guiding principles of ethics – TO FIRST DO NO HARM – is the overarching dictum that should be followed.
In January of 2019, my mom who was then 82 was diagnosed with colon cancer (Stage IIIA).
She underwent surgery on February of the same year, but refused to undergo chemotherapy. She said that she was old already and did not want to have to struggle with ‘quality of life’ issues. We actually had bookings for our trip to Tokyo in March of the same year. A month after her surgery, she struggled to make it with us to the trip.
It’s been five years (and more) since her surgery, and it’s been a roller coaster ride of having to deal with health issues. With the love and care of her family – my niece, nephew, sister and my partner – we were able to manage through several speed bumps on health.
I’ve always believed in the power of prayers. Sometimes, when we ask for those small miracles, someone up there listens to us. As a man of science, I believe that we are only instruments of God.
On a balmy Maundy Thursday in Tokyo, my mom wanted to visit a church. Unfortunately, we could not use the PWD lift because there was no one around but the Tsukiji Catholic Church (https://tsukijicatholic.org) was open. We spent 30 minutes there in meditation, thanking God for the extended journey in her life.
Unlike our trip last year where we stayed in the hustle and bustle of Ginza, this time around was a more reflective one. (Did I not blog about how reflections killed my Apple Watch?)
We spent more time bonding and enjoying each other’s company. At my age, I began contemplating more on what my mom’s journey was and how my journey of accepting struggles and resilience brought me to where I am today. No complaints. No regrets. Just pure acceptance.
Because love, is what pulled us through those difficult times.
The first Apple Watch Series 1 came out in 2016, I was one of those who flew to Tokyo to grab one.
There was that fascination over, yes, owning a watch that synced with your phone, apps and all!
Over the years, the Apple Watch evolved as technology advanced as quickly as the iPhone.
As quickly as the phones changed, so did the watches. And the other digital devices.
A few years after the launch of the Apples Watch, many other brands came out with their own versions of the “smart watch”. And smart phones.
I have nothing against technology. In reality, I am one of those who embraced the craze.
On our recent trip to Tokyo, one realization struck me when my Apple Watch died on me. Yes. It literally lost power several times. And I knew this 5 year old watch (yes it was a series 4), was ready to retire.
And while I was looking at my “dead” watch at Shinjuku, the realities that struck me were:
1. The watches had no resale value. These smart watches had a life span. They don’t last like the phones and no matter how expensive
Aside from the name of a hotel chain, when people talk about Shangri-La, it is meant as “an imaginary, beautiful place, often far away, where everything is pleasant and you can get everything you want.”
The word emanates from novelist James Hilton’s fictional account of the Tibetan paradise Shambala. In the 1933 novel “Lost Horizon”, Hilton changes the name of the paradise to Shangri-La. It was made into a movie and re-released in 1942 with the title “Lost Horizon at Shangri-La”.
This blog is a review of our recent stay at Shangri-La at the Fort (Bonifacio Global City).
THE GOOD
Ease in reservation through either its website or the Shangri-La Circle App
Nicely decorated rooms especially the Horizon Floors, with amenities from L’Occitane.
Loved the fact that this hotel has PWD accessibility in mind at almost every turn
Excellent food
Location to Bonifacio High Street shopping can be accessed through the hotel
THE BAD
So yes, it was a holiday and they expected a deluge of guests. The cost of the Horizon Floors was nevertheless more expensive than the regular floors. The guests on the Horizon Floors should be given the exclusivity offered for paying to be on those floors. Those rules changed on check-in. Because of the New Year revelry, those occupying the Horizon Floors from Dec 30-Jan 1 will have breakfast in the Grand Ballroom, together with all the other guests of the hotel.
While the hotel had collected the full payment for our stay, it took almost an hour to check-in on a slow day. While check-in was already available on the APP, the APP did not sync with the fact that the hotel had already collected full payment. When I inquired from the hotel why the APP was still charging me for rooms that I already paid in full, I was informed not to mind the APP and just check in at the hotel premises on the day itself. I would be double charged if I check-in through the APP. So much for technology with this hotel.
Breakfast was in one whole Grand Ballroom. Which left you with no sense of privacy. Which was like one large school cafeteria where there was a melee in the battle for what food and what drink the hungry hippos were gunning for. And while we did get seats (we ate early), coffee was served cold and after breakfast was done. You couldn’t enjoy the breakfast as you would want to because the queue to the “Grand Buffet Breakfast” was so long, that I pitied those who were in queue. Yes, it extended from the ballroom all the way to the elevators.
Even check out was a pain. Where was all the technology hype when the hotel isn’t even interconnected with their digital platforms?
Over-all, I’d give this staycation a 2.5 star rating.
It is, after all, touted to be a 5-star hotel.
It is, after all, a very expensive hotel.
It did not live up to its name and reputation.
Yes, this branch of the hotel chain called Shangri-La did not live up to its name. It’s like when you say you’re the best and yet you can’t claim it on all counts. You cannot be the best when under duress, you’re one of the worst.
Revelry or none, high occupancy or not, customers should be treated with the expectations the hotel touted it to be.
After all, the anatomy of disappointments are expectations.
For the past 3 years, we’ve seen a volley of surges that occur during or after a holiday season. The last surge happened at the beginning of 2022 – the beginning of the Omicron variant. After the onslaught of this variant, the December numbers for the year dipped to less than 7% and continued to decline to 5.5% at the beginning of 2023. Omicron had continued to shift to different sub variants and while no new variant of concern had emanated after Omicron, people continued to get COVID with milder symptoms to being asymptomatic, in the majority. The most recent wave for 2023 occurred in May 14, 2023 where the PH peaked at 24% (7-day average, with more than 53,000 tests done). As Omicron continued to evolve, the JN.1 sub variant is likely responsible for the holiday wave today. As of this writing, the national 7-day positive rate is up at 21.2% (with only a little more than 10,000 tests).
Of course, the holiday spirit is at full throttle with vengeance – revenge travel, revenge shopping and dining, revenge parties, revenge concerts, and revenge reunions. Of course, this is what normal living is. And for our mental health, we cannot keep hiding under a rock because of COVID. And so what came naturally in this holiday wave is human nature.
It’s still bad news considering that the PH had one of the longest lockdowns in the world. Bad news in the sense that many people never learned about masking etiquette. I mean, seriously, we were the only country that implemented those useless face shields for years! The government even mandated that useless tool and there were scoundrels that profited from that idiotic idea. So you’d think that the simple mask was not a large ask for the general public to remember and practice self-care and personal responsibility when one has respiratory symptoms.
Rapid antigen tests are most accurate when they are used in people who have signs or symptoms of COVID-19, especially during the first week of illness. People who test negative may still be infected.
Rapid antigen tests are considerably less accurate when they are used in people with no signs or symptoms of infection, but do perform better in people who have been in contact with someone who has confirmed COVID-19.
The accuracy of rapid antigen tests varies between tests that are produced by different manufacturers and there is a lack of evidence for many commercially available tests.
Over-all, the rapid antigen tests (RAT) approved for commercial use in the PH, are stringently assessed by the local Food and Drug Administration.
The Cochrane review showed that “In people with confirmed COVID-19, antigen tests correctly identified COVID-19 infection in an average of 73% of people with symptoms, compared to 55% of people without symptoms. Tests were most accurate when used in the first week after symptoms began (an average of 82% of confirmed cases had positive antigen tests). This is likely to be because people have the most virus in their system in the first days after they are infected. For people with no symptoms, tests were most accurate in people likely to have been in contact with a case of COVID-19 infection (an average of 64% of confirmed cases had positive antigen tests).
In people who did not have COVID-19, antigen tests correctly ruled out infection in 99.6% of people with symptoms and 99.7% of people without symptoms.”
The RAT is a very useful, cost-effective point of care test to use. And I strongly urge everyone to make use of this tool, especially in the light of rising cases (or waves and surges). It is a personal responsibility which we owe to the community, particularly those in the vulnerable sector.
Finally, is the availability of an updated vaccine or a good vaccine for that matter. This topic will be a separate blog, but for now, let’s call a spade a spade. We will have to find a good vaccine that will block transmission of the virus. NONE (and I emphasize that) of the vaccines out there will do that. Getting shots against SARS-CoV2, no matter how updated they are, will not prevent an infection after exposure. However, the vaccines are helpful at decreasing the severity of infection, if one does catch COVID-19.
In summary, the bad news isn’t really Omicron. It’s a multitude of factors – human at that – that continues to challenge the evolution of respiratory pathogens based on the behavior of people globally.
Let’s face it, if we don’t observe better respiratory hygiene, we will continue to be overwhelmed with waves. Based on hybrid immunity, this will be most likely an annual affair.
I know that many followed this blog for the COVID-19 updates during the difficult times of the pandemic. As we saw better outcomes with vaccination and treatment, you will agree with me that it is time to move on, albeit still cautious of how SARS-CoV-2 can possibly evolve in the future.
With that said, I chose the Greek word Ataraxia as the title for this blog.
It means, “a serene state of calmness, freedom from worry.”
The past three years have truly been difficult. Not only in terms of healthcare and economy, but the overall anxiety driven by the pandemic.
There are many who still live in perpetual fear of catching COVID-19 and still many who are confused with the isolation and quarantine rules when one tests positive for the virus.
Without a doubt, majority of the infections we are seeing now are mild.
I tested positive for COVID on May 1, 2023.
Because it was a holiday, I had a 3 km run in the morning of this very warm day. After a good shower, I asked my family to have lunch in the mall. We always pick sitting outside (where there is good ventilation) in spite of the heat. After lunch, we went around the mall (with masks on). I told my mom that I felt a bit exhausted (and attributed it most likely to both the heat and the run). We went home early and I took a nap and woke up feeling better.
But better wasn’t good for me. That’s because this was unusual. I do some runs but don’t feel winded down. And because there were so many sick kids in the clinic lately, I decided to swab myself. And I was positive.
I didn’t have any other symptoms. No fever, cough, cold or loss of taste and smell or pain. Nothing at all. But I isolated for 5 days and continued to wear a mask up to day 10. I was already negative on the 7th day (with day 0 being the first day I tested positive) and a repeat test on the 9th day continued to be negative. I short, I was fattening myself for a week and binging on Netflix and Disney Plus and working online.
It dawned on me – how many people had symptoms similar to mine and did not bother to test? As I’ve always told my patients, you don’t need to have fever to be positive for COVID-19.
None of my family who were exposed to me had COVID. Maybe because they all had COVID infection already 6 months ago and I was the only one left in the household that has not had natural COVID infection. Could it also be due to the fact that I received my bivalent in the US in October 2022 that I was ‘protected’ for a couple of months? But the circulating strains currently are not covered anymore by the bivalent vaccines that are being provided.
That week of catching COVID gave me time to mull and think about life after COVID infection. This will most likely be a viral infection we all will catch (just like influenza) and there will be a variety of circulating strains from a dominant variant and sub variants. Those that have had the natural infection will have more robust protection and those that have had vaccination will be protected against more severe clinical illness.
Catching COVID taught me a valuable lesson in medicine post-COVID.
Ataraxia should be how we look at the current COVID situation.
Work. Eat. Drink. Travel. Relax. Have fun. Repeat…
Not even the experts at disaster preparedness. It took the World Health Organization to even decide calling the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in China, a pandemic.
Like a thief in the night, COVID-19 stealthily took over our lives and changed the way we lived in the last three years. Even as the WHO declared that COVID-19 is not a public health emergency any longer, those three years were undoubtedly painful ones.
People needed to change behavior. With high mortality at the beginning of the pandemic in the 21st century, science needed to step up quickly in order to find treatment and vaccines against the virus.
Unfortunately, as science raced to address the gaps of healthcare, the virus mutated to more evasive variants and sub variants. They too, needed to survive.
The casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic was not only health-related. Deaths, post-COVID sequelae, and other unaddressed health issues which were not attended to during the pandemic because of fear of going to hospitals and contracting the virus was something we needed to address. Immunization against common preventable diseases were placed on hold. Necessary work-ups for other ailments were on pause mode, worsening the saddled healthcare systems globally.
But health wasn’t the only major casualty of the pandemic.
The economy of various countries, particularly those that remained in lockdown for the longest period of time suffered the most. People lost their jobs because businesses had to close. Those that survived would need time to recover the 2019 numbers. And it’s not going to happen overnight. It will take more resources and deeper pockets to continue operating the same way we did 4 years ago.
There are lessons learned from this pandemic.
Lockdowns don’t work, particularly for poor countries like the Philippines, where majority of its people live below the poverty line. The fear of contracting the virus and getting sick was coupled with some very poor decision making from the previous administration. A bitter pill of truth that is difficult to swallow.
Disaster preparedness will require a political will. This will not be the last pandemic to strike us. If there are those in government who will misuse and abuse the coffers of the health department, we will end up waiting like beggars for dole-outs from donor countries for vaccines and medicines. By then, it would be too late.
If you look at the situation we are in today, we are still at the sad place in health.
We have little regard for the healthcare sector, and its healthcare workers. There is no budget for vaccines for its people and we remain mendicants in many aspects of health.
A lot of people wonder how we were even able to get a room here. It’s not like a swanky hotel. It’s actually four stars. This reservation was made 6 months ahead of our planned trip. Hoping that nothing would come in the way, I went ahead and booked the three rooms for a party of six adults.
Located right smack in the Ginza district, this hotel has the minimalist and environmental-friendly feel. The location is the crown jewel stand out for this hotel. Right in the heart of the Ginza district, where the posh high-end shops are never ending, the hotel is just a few steps away from Mitsuhikoya and Matsukaya Ginza, as well as the branded names of Fendi, LV, Gucci, Prada, Hermés, Bottega Venetta, Valentino, et al, or the likes of Apple and Samsung flagship shops, Ginza is home to several Michelin starred restaurants and the more upscale Tokyo Peninsula.
So why pick the Muji Hotel at Ginza? But this hotel is not without hiccups! Aside from the aforementioned location, the flagship Muji shop is located on the first five floors and a Muji Diner at the basement of this building. The hotel, with 79 rooms, is located on the 6th to 10th floor. The stores and diner close at 9pm daily. That means the access to the hotel from the main shop closes as well. You will need to use the hotel entrance at the back of the store to gain access to your rooms after 9pm.
The reception is located on the 6th floor. There is no luggage service, so don’t expect a baggage boy come rushing to the doorstep to meet you. There is also hardly anyone at the front desk after 11pm. When we arrived close to 11pm last Sunday, I called the hotel and was asking where the entrance was, we couldn’t understand each other. While the staff may speak English, it’s quite basic and things get lost easily in translation. This is, after all, not the Four Seasons at Maranouchi (a favorite of mine).
The rooms are decent. Most of them follow a type C design. In reality, when Muji had bought this building, it was originally designed to be an office and not a hotel. Which accounts for the way the interiors of the hotel have been retrofitted to an appealing but not functional look.
Type C room Toilet in one of the type C rooms. This is the bathroom of my mom. The rest of the rooms have a really small bathroom. The directions from the hotel side
There are standard amenities which you can take home with you. It’s a mini version of what you can find at the Muji store.
As modern as it gets, there isn’t a switch in the room (except the bathroom). All appliances, lights, curtains, alarm, cleaning services and phone calls are made through a smart pad. That includes the level of lighting and whatever you’d want to operate in your room without having to stand up. Just bring the tablet with you to control all settings.
Breakfast does not stuff your face in a buffet. Although still a buffet, it’s a rather simple spread of traditional Japanese dishes. Breakfast is at the WA Restaurant to the left of the front desk. To the right of the front desk is The Atelier – Muji’s library – where there are tons of reading material and coffee, tea and some baked goods. The bakery is located in the first floor, while the diner is at the basement. The bakery and diner are open after 11am. Food choices are standard and limited.
Your stay at the Muji Hotel won’t be complete if you don’t visit their whole 5 floors of shop – from fashion to household needs and appliances to school and office supplies and to their famous diffusers and scents.
Here’s the photo gallery of the five floors of the Muji store below the hotel.
The Muji Hotel at Ginza has its plus and minuses. With Uniqlo and GU just at its side and the posh shops a few steps away, it is, hands down, the best location in Ginza.
But if you’re looking for a hotel with less hits and misses, Muji Hotel at Ginza is over rated as an eco friendly hotel doesn’t really work well for the elderly and persons with disability. If you fall into the latter category, this should not be a choice for you.
It’s also stressful that they require all guests to check out promptly at 11am. And they need all the card keys when you check out (so that means that there’s no taking home those card keys as a souvenir). But there is always a place to put your bags in the lobby and you can always have lunch at WA if you’re waiting for a late afternoon flight.
Japan culture and Japan itself is my go to place when it comes to Asian countries. A country deep in history, it also enjoys the climate one would truly appreciate when it comes to experiencing the four seasons of the year. Japanese people are respectful and their traditions remain deep in honor and accountability in spite of the rapid changing technology and generation gaps in this ultra-fast paced century.
The lockdown years were frustrating for those who enjoy traveling. And traveling is what my mom even at the age of 85 and wheelchair bound, enjoys. In spite of the physical and emotional challenges in life, traveling and relaxation makes her difficult life easier to get by.
The post-lockdown travel is a challenge – not only to those who are able-bodied but more so, to the physically handicapped.
Current travel requirements to Japan include full vaccination and ONE booster. Nope, Sputnik vaccines do not count. And if you only have a full vaccination or your full vaccination was a Sputnik vaccine and you had ONE booster of any other COVID vaccine brand, that didn’t count either. What to do? Get an RT-PCR, 72 hours before your flight. Validity for that PCR test is 72 hours prior to your designated flight.
You will need to fill up your travel details on this website https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/main/#/vjwplo001 and upload the quarantine requirements (vaccine certificates), obtain an immigration QR code, and obtain a customs QR code as well.
When your digital requirements are fulfilled, you should be able to get all these within less than 12 hours. The immigration and customs QR code are almost immediate. Don’t forget to take a photo shot of your QR codes and save to your photo gallery, just in case you don’t get a wifi signal or you’re too stingy to go for data roaming on your mobile phone.
The long Holy Week and holidays contributed to the exodus of Filipinos from the city. The airport was crowded and the immigration line was bad. Everyone wanted to be part of the “priority” (senior citizens and PWD lane) with the kids, teenagers and everyone else in their traveling party in tow. Discipline isn’t really part of the DNA of the Filipino.
Even boarding was mayhem in Manila. When the ground crew began to announce that boarding for children would commence – the rush to the gate was like all hell had broken loose. It’s like – didn’t you get a seat assignment?
The four and a half hour travel to Japan on ANA was smooth. Food was served promptly. But the choices on the Manila to Haneda leg wasn’t really great. You’d think that paying for business class you get you more than just slippers and a heavy blanket – but more decent choices as well. The over-all cabin crew service, however, was superb and made up for what was basically lacking in the business class food service.
Did I mention the cabin crew? Yes I did and this cabin crew really did a great job in attending to my mom, in spite of the 3/4 full business class flight. And here’s the icing on the cake…
Upon arrival in Haneda, we would need to use a bus gate. That would mean stairs! Fifteen minutes before the arrival into Haneda, the chief purser had informed me of this. We were instructed that when we arrive and all the passengers have deplaned, there would be a special arrangement for my mom who would be hauled by traction down through the door on the right side of the plane where the special bus would connect us to a vehicle that would attach to the “cargo” and take us straight into the gate near the immigration area.
From the airline front door to the traction busIn the traction bus which brought her down from the lift into a vehicle that took her right into Terminal 3
I was literally blown away with the service of ANA and the crew at the Haneda International Airport. Two staff were with us from the time she was shuffled from the plane into her own wheelchair, to the queue at immigration (in the priority lane), until we got our baggages, till we met our chauffeur at the arrival area.
Great job ANA and domo-arigato (どうもありがとう) to team ANA!
[On a side note, the average duration from arrival to exit took the other members of our party 2 hours to queue in Haneda. So many tourists arriving that same evening! In spite of the fact that we waited till the whole plane was emptied of passengers before we could deplane, and took our ‘private’ transfers from the bus gate to immigration, we were finished within an hour after our arrival into Haneda. The Japanese immigration was not spared from the stampede of tourist arrivals. All those who had kids in tow (even if they were not with children less than 2 years old or who did not require strollers or assistance) were on the same ‘priority’ lane as the elderly and disabled. The woman triaging the passengers was completely overwhelmed at the multitude of arrivals that compounded with the language barrier, there was nothing much she could do.]
Relative Joy 