The Datai That Was Not

"So, how's your bro doing?" KY, a colleague asked over lunch the other day.

"He's doing very well actually. In fact, he and his colleagues are having the time of their lives in Langkawi on a company trip right now."

"Whereabouts are they?"

"Datai. All expenses paid, man."

I could see KY literally drooling. So was I actually. To us, The Datai was The Hotel to be. From RM1390 to RM9200 per night, it was the holy grail of all Malaysian hotels.

"Datai's really awesome, CC. When you are there, you don't feel like going anywhere else anymore," KY said in an awestruck voice. His eyes were glazed. His body was in that chicken rice shop with me but his mind was somewhere else. Somewhere obvious. "We only could afford to stay there one night. The rest of the week, we changed our reservations to Awana. Only RM113 per night there, that's 10 times cheaper than Datai!"

"Wah, at least you got to stay there one night. I'm still waiting for our company to organise a trip there."

Then we looked at each other with 'Yeah, right' smiles. Heh.

Anyway, when my brother came back from his trip, I observed his facial expression. For someone who stayed at Datai for 3 whole days, he sure didn't look very enthralled. So I asked him excitedly, "So, how was Datai?"

"Datai? We stayed at Awana Porto Malai leh!"

Omigosh. I mistook Porto Malai for The Datai! My brother couldn't understand why I suddenly burst out in tearful laughter at his statement. I thought of KY, of our drooling session and what a waste of time it all was. That only served to fuel more oil for laughter.

"Eh, nothing wrong with Awana Porto Malai wat. It's a nice, decent hotel."

Yep, Awana's a nice hotel alright. But it's still can't quite compare to Datai. I've told the truth of the matter to KY who shook his head and grinned cheekily in response.

All that remains is getting my ears checked.

The Datai's Vanity Parlour