Being well.
The following is an excerpt from Wellbeing Brand Experience concept statement written for the proposed Luxury Collection Tokyo (March 2025). The water cradles me in its warmth, a cocoon of vapour that feels like an embrace against the crisp, biting air. I’m submerged to the shoulders, every muscle lulled into a quiet rhythm by the onsen’s mineral-rich water. The heat seeps into my skin, pulling me further and deeper into the pool. Above the waterline, my face tingle with the coolness of the evening air, a sharp contrast that is both stimulating and meditative. It is as if my body…
Mastering Luxury at JW Marriott: The 8 Essentials Every Leader Must Know
Luxury is more than just grand gestures and opulent spaces – it is a carefully curated experience that evokes deep emotions, creates genuine connections, and delivers effortless elegance. At JW Marriott, operational leaders are the custodians of this philosophy, ensuring that every guest encounter embodies mindful luxury in its purest form. Normal . developed “Definition of Luxury – 8 Luxury Essentials” program to elevate service standards at the JW Marriott Great China division. Below is an abridged, article version of the program designed to guide JW Marriott Operations Leaders through a structured understanding of luxury and its core principles. This…
Elliot Faber on the future of drinking well (and a perfect highball recipe)
Think of your most indulgent guilty pleasure – a Japanese whisky with a splash of water in a beautifully cut rock glass or that sought-after 2015 Super Tuscan. Now, what if you could enjoy your favourite booze without the hangover? Higher quality non-alcoholic drinks, be it 0.0 beers, Campari substitutes, zero-proof gins are hitting the market. Can complex, time-tested, adult flavours of quality spirit be both indulgent and guilt-free? Let’s face it, a glass of fine Brunello was never an alcohol delivery mechanism. I choose boutique amaro cocktails and small batch bourbons for flavour rather than ABV (alcohol by volume).…
A monument to witness – interview with Pamela Longobardi
Normal is curating a series of experiential programming for Patina Hotels & Resorts throughout 2013. This fall, we are collaborating with the renowned artist Pamela Longobardi to unveil a large scale art called Ocean Archeology of Our Time in the upcoming multi-day program, Cosmopolitan Ocean. Words: Jinou Park A large scale, permanent art installation called Ocean Archaeology of Our Time by Pamela Longobardi will be unveiled during the event. Pam is Oceanic Society’s Artist-in-Nature, a Distinguished Professor at Georgia State University, and an internationally exhibiting and award-winning artist. How can art become a monument in addressing the pressing issue of…
Experience as Healing
Experience as Healing was the inaugural event of a series of experiential programming Normal created for Patina Hotels & Resorts to supercharge Patina brand experiences. Event took place on 2 -3 June, 2023 at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands. Words: Jinou Park / Images: Guojie Khoo For a short weekend in June, Normal brought together a group of leaders in the fields of nutritional psychology, health-tech and esoteric practices and headed to Fari Islands, one of the most beautiful, inspired places in the Indian Ocean, to explore new ideas about transformative powers of healing arts and sciences. By 2025, an average…
A conversation with Avery Whitmore, humanitarian of healing arts
Recently, the ancient practice of breathwork has gained renewed attention as a powerful tool for enhancing overall wellbeing. Its bodily, mental and emotional benefits have been reported by the most rigorously peer-reviewed, respected medical journals. New England Journal of Medicine found that regular slow breathing exercises improved lung function and reduced asthma symptoms while International Journal of Behavioral Medicine reported breathwork was associated with improvements in immune system function in HIV patients. So what exactly is breathwork and how does it work? To explore these questions, Normal’s Founder Jinou Park, sat down with Avery Whitmore, a Healing Arts Practitioner, who is…
On lent
Are you happy? Yes, you – right now. Are you perusing these pages while smiling ear to ear and chuckling with good cheer? Much as I would like to think that my journals could induce you to ecstasy, I’m prepared to go out on a limb and reckon that your emotions are actually more prosaic. At-ease, perhaps? Maybe not even that… Rather, a kind of neutral, run-of-the-mill – not sad or worrisome but not particularly hopeful either. Perhaps a lot of conflicting emotions, confused…Maybe after all the life’s changes in the past two years, it is only human and is…
Wonders of non-alcoholic cocktails (and 4 of my best recipes)
Each year in October, an estimated 60,000 people give up drinking for Sober October, Macmillan Cancer Support’s fundraiser. In the UK, about a fifth of adults say they’re teetotal, and among 16-to-24-year-olds it’s almost 30% (yikes!). Although stats presented here are those of the UK, this isn’t a local trend but rather a global and cross-generational phenomena. In developed countries, alcohol consumption is in long-term decline. And people’s reasons for abstaining are various: generational, cultural, religious. Non or low-alcoholic drinks (No-Lo) market has exploded in the past few years: it’s now possible to find non-alcoholic beers (shout out to Erdinger…
Descent into baloney we must fix
Boisterous bullfrogs wake me up earlier than usual. They’ve been going literally since three in the morning, went on for 30 minutes, stopped and started again at six, they haven’t stopped since. I am not in favor of killing them but I’d love to figure out a way to get them outta here. Yesterday, a chicken guy (he called himself that) came and took three of them away but they were immediately replaced by four others. As I said, they’re ‘bull’-proportioned and I tried to physically wrangle one of them away and he mauled me. That wasn’t so smart. I’m…
On eating wholesome – sattvic diet (plus recipe)
If there is one thing that this Upside-Down-tragedy gave than took, it is my new found energy to peruse recipes I learned over the years and kick my hindside back to the stove. True, YouTube helped. So did Jamie Oliver’s army of mignons that dominate search rankings for any food item you google. But it was also having spent so much time on the road when I surrendered control of what goes in my food to hotel cooks and airline catering and extended periods as an expat in cities where food supplies are outsourced to distant lands that always gave…
Normal . 