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…
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…
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 travelling while Covid
Familiar hubbub greets me, although today it feels a little awkward as it has been months since my last routine. Flight crew performs their usual and soothing benedictions while the plane taxis on the runway in snail speed, flanked by permanently idling planes on either side. The wings lift and comes alive, the wheels fold away and the pilot turns left for Singapore. Incheon sky and the West Sea down below look beautiful and peaceful. Obstacles that fate throws their way – as if in retribution for the sins for hope of earthly happiness – is perhaps omen for things…
Cities, profit from this
As I write this story I glance down from my perch in Seoul. On this particularly crisp October morning I was enjoying a cup of Fall Blend on the terrace of a coworking café. Groups of young men dressed in the sharp, telltale style of consultants in their first year on the job (navy suit, white shirt, no tie, monk-strap shoes) pacing through rotating doors of the building; boisterous women in pairs in fashionable getups with just-so-right hemlines (below the knee but not quite calf-length) flashing their Galaxy phones toward contact tracing QR code reader; around me clusters of two…
K House
Way beyond Galle and past Ahangama and Matara in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka is K House, a secluded beach front property surrounded by lush Indian Ocean flora and open ocean views. It is where minimalist architecture of two villas effortlessly blend into nature and stand in comfortable distance to provide intimate privacy within. I was in Sri Lanka over an extended weekend to visit and talk-shop with the proprietors of four boutique hotels in Boosa, Galle and Ahangama but my real intent was to get to K House with as much weekend left to take in the architecture…
Yakumo Saryo – in cloud eight
My taxi ride is getting longer, going deeper into nondescript residential neighbourhood. I pass by some oppressive modernist gymnasiums of 1960 Tokyo Olympics era … and then it keeps going again. Finally I’m dropped off curb side in front of a gated residence (again nondescript) and I wonder “is this going to be another sit and eat what I’ll give you” in an underwhelmingly minimalist restaurant. I walk up the steps through a small courtyard and greeted by Sugimoto-san, in perfectly bleached chef’s robe with a mild, forced smile. I’m here on a field trip of sorts to prepare for our…
Belitung EcoBeach and surrounding islands
When Davide (pseudonym) first made an appearance in my office with an hour notice and announced he owned one-tenth of Belitung Island and that he’s wanting advice for developing that area as socially and environmentally responsible project, I only had two questions – first, where in the heck is Belitung (I’ve been in hospitality for 20 years in Asia and never heard of it) and second, ”ya that environmentally, socially… you and everybody else”. Then I forgot about it for months until he called me again when I was sitting in the back of bus in Singapore. Second time, I…
Normal . 