It was one of those special nights at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. At the Compay Segundo Hall or 1930 as it is called, Orquesta Jorrín, the creator of Cha cha cha, was performing. Such an amazing evening and it was there where I met Teresa García Caturla or Teté as she is fondly known.

Cha cha cha is a dance of Cuban origin and its music was introduced in 1953 by a Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín. Now you may ask, what about the Ballroom cha cha? Well, it was brought to England by a man named Pierre after he visited Cuba, who eventually created it. But the Cuban Cha cha cha is more sensual and more complex than the Ballroom cha cha.

When Teté came to stage, I saw and felt people’s admiration. She is 74 years old, full of energy, an excellent Cuban singer. She is the daughter of Alejandro García Caturla, one of the most important Cuban composers of the 1920s and 30s. In 1963, she joined Cuarteto d’Aida, an all-female group. She even performed in Finland in 1987. In 2004, she recorded the highly successful, Llegó Teté. 

I love the song Piel Canela the most. We danced with this song in Hotel Nacional de Cuba at the Compay Segunda Hall in July 2011.

Walking in the old city of Havana, I came across a shop that is pouring with people. I’ve passed this shop many times before but it was only now that I’ve decided to go in and check out the place. It was a specialist shop. A beautiful specialist shop that sells perfume made from tropical flowers.

The shop is glamorous. With its stained glass windows, glass covered cabinets, shiny mirrors, marble countertops, wooden tables, old looking cash register, pretty bottles filled with perfume and well thought through decorations, it was like going back to the golden old times when women dressed so elegantly with their pointed heels and artistic hats. On the countertops are small colourful clay jars and a stove is also on display where they keep the wax melted to use for sealing the jars once it is filled with perfume.

The shop has two rooms. The inner room shows a mini museum of what this place is all about. The outer room is buzzing with people, smelling strips of paper dipped in perfume, wanting a jar or two of the coveted fragrance. As a lover of perfumes, I have been to a number of perfume shops before but nothing as fascinating as this place. It was nostalgic. Not just the alluring smell surrounding the place but the energy of the shop keepers and those who came to buy. Some undecided and kept coming back to the thin strips of paper. While others, surely are regular costumers of this place, went straight to the counter to place their order.

I was one of those who went through the some two dozen strips of paper. But has been very decided at once. Asking for a small purple clay jar where the Habana 1791 is written across it, I have it filled up with a sweet smelling perfume. For twelve dollars a bottle, I found it not expensive at all and actually felt that I haven’t really spend anything as the experience I had was priceless.

Housed in the former Presidential Palace where the white and gold interior was created by Tiffany’s of New York, the Museo de la Revolución is the place to witness the stages of Cuban revolution and the earlier struggle for independence.

Built in 1913, this neoclassical palace  served as a presidential palace from 1920 until 1965. In March 1957, it was the site of the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Fulgencio Batista. This attempt was led by revolutionary student leader, José Echeverria, who stormed the palace with some 50 students. Batista escaped through a secret passage while half of the students were killed in the attack.

Displaying the various achievements of the revolution, it showed how the socialist government introduced land reform and launched literacy and public health campaign. Among the many displays, from old communication radios, a doll that carried secret messages, revolutionary posters, eyeglasses, shoes, uniforms to Che’s medical instruments, it also displayed the heavy black coat that Fidel wore during his trial when he made his famous speech, History will absolve me.

The featured photo was taken at Museo de la Revolución, with Che Guevara and Camillo Cienfuegos.

The day started with perfect blue skies. The beach was tempting and so there I was feeling the light breeze from the golf of Mexico, swimming the calm emerald water, watching the bright sky, soaking the prickling heat of the sun, sipping a coconut drink straight from the shell and listening to Jamiroquie, on my iPod that is. Then all of a sudden, the beautiful skies turned dark with grey clouds. The next thing I know, the clouds burst into heavy rain. So heavy rain.

Taking cover under a nearby cottage, that didn’t help at all. So it all ended up walking up the road all barefoot and hired a classic dark blue Plymouth, a local shared taxi that should not be taking foreigners as passengers. Sitting inside this huge old car, the plan was to act all nonchalant about being soaking wet as I know that guests at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba are not allowed to be walking in the hotel in swimming clothes. But it all ended deciding to put dry clothes on top of the wet, wiping myself with a handkerchief as I didn’t have a towel on hand and carefully combing my hair. While the driver was so busy keeping his eyes on the road as it was pouring cats and dogs!

Walking up the hotel with my head up, I know that I can continue pretending to be all dry and all cool as if the rain was not so bad to me that day.

It was 7:00 am. Too early to be awake on this week of holiday. But who can resist not to open the window of Hotel Nacional de Cuba and to experience the magnificent Malecon open up right before your eyes.

I had a very good feeling about this holiday. Not only that it took more than 12 hours to get here, a few months of planning and the fact that I’ve dreamt of this holiday for some years, this holiday marked a big fat tick on my to do list!

Opening the window for a dash of fresh air, I instantly feel in love with this beautiful, exotic country. But three things I’ve learned fast. If you are not willing to spend much money on your holiday, this is not your destination. If you hate tipping, this is not the place for you. If you enjoy haggling, this is not where you want to be either. In short, this country is expensive for tourists and clearly not a place for backpackers. But if you are into smoking and like the smoky feeling in the air, by all means, come to Cuba. You will enjoy sat at the garden bar of the hotel, watching the rich locals come in wearing Guayaberas and Panama hats, covered with the thick smoke of their cigars. Felt like I was an extra on a filming!

The Ilustrado is inside the Intramuros, the walled city of Manila. It has a charming touch to it. Furnished with an elegant, old-world interiors, this restaurant set within a garden has been around for more than 19 years. Again, seated at the corner of the room facing the rest of the restaurant, I savoured the perfect appetiser of baked eggplant in Filo pastry served with black olives and Feta cheese. With flowing conversations around the table, the baked fish placed on top of mashed potatoes with mushrooms sautéed in butter was delicious too. I enjoyed the coffee and the Mango Jubilee with home made Sampaguita Ice Cream for dessert.

Having experience these restaurants, I was convinced that I should visit Manila more often.

(Photos from the restaurants’ websites)

I’m used to flying on a small plane because of where I was based in Cambodia. But Cambodia is flat. Nothing so exciting to look down to and even though there were stories of elephants to be seen beneath, I’ve never seen one. But flying in Papua was a totally different experience  The abundance of hills and mountains made the fight a very scenic one but also very eventful. I remember so vividly in my mind the sudden turn of this tiny plane to avoid the mountain facing us. Landing on a small elevated ground was something not worth forgetting too. 

There was once this place in Vientiane where I was surrounded with beautiful things. I loved this place. I’ve sat there for endless hours reading and writing my random thoughts.

The place was wonderfully decorated with orange washed down walls and some pretty exotic lamps. The only problem was this restaurant did not perform as one. I was only able to order couscous salad. I even recall having a baguette invaded by ants. It was really sad. It was a well designed place with a poorly planned menu.

The place was closed after a few months. It was not just closed down but it completely ended its existence. It was knocked down to the ground. I was partly broken hearted seeing that happen. Some things are not meant to last. Not even for a year. Soon it will be forgotten that it once existed. I can’t even remember its name.