The different colours of the view from the Riverside Majestic Astana Wing

The view is not something I normally consider when selecting a hotel. Hopefully, I 'd have something better to do than sit in my hotel room staring out the window. Normally, I just choose the cheapest room that that hotel offers, which means that I get a view of a parking lot or the building across the street. However, after spending two weeks stuck in a hotel room, I can see why some people are willing to spend a little more to get something pleasant to look at. I didn't get to choose my hotel or my room, but out of all the possible outcomes, I probably got really, really lucky.

My room looked out West over the Sarawak river, so I got some some nice sunsets. It also got extremely bright and hot between midday and 6pm. The view (including the window) looked mostly like this during this time:

It really was too hot to have the curtains open. Also, the sun reflected quite a bit off the river, which was not great for your eyes. So, most of my photos were taken in the morning and evening. 

One of the positives of having small windows was being able to be consistent in taking a photo of roughly the same area each time (even if the angle of the skyline was not always the same). There was only a limited range where I could avoid getting some window frame or the next door Hilton hotel in the shot. This is what my view of the Hilton looked like:

Not super interesting.

I am not the world's greatest photographer (in fact, I suck). Also, my phone camera isn't all that great. However, I hope that at least the general mood of the scene comes through.

Day 1, 6.41 pm

Quite a nice and subdued sunset on the first full day of quarantine.

Day 7, 9.24 am

This photo shows the positive effects of reduced commercial activity on the river. It was looking greener and clearer than I have ever seen it before. In the past, it could look pretty brown and muddy. The colour of the water and the reflection of the trees is something I would only expect further up in the less populated areas the river runs through.

Day 9, 7.04 am

The mountain (Mount Serapi?) in the distance is mysteriously shrouded with fog. 

Day 9, 6.58 pm

This was taken just as the sun disappeared into the horizon. The lights were just starting to get switched on.

Day 9, 7.07 pm

I like the difference between this shot and the one before. This was just 9 minutes later, but the street lights and building RGB have already taken effect, leading to the river having a dark blue colour.

Day 11, 6.20 pm

I like the long reflection of the sun in the river.

Day 12, 6.43 am

This was a peaceful morning. The sun was not visible (as it was on the other side of the building), but it was nice to get a hint that it was there.

Day 12, 3.13 pm

The clouds were magnificent, and seemed to enhance the sunlight. The picture was taken just as the weather started to change.

Day 12, 4.59 pm

Those beautiful bright fluffy clouds suddenly turned dark and we had an impressive tropical storm that set in really quickly. There was thunder and lightening and it was bucketing down with rain. This was taken when that was finishing up and we got some sun peaking through the dark clouds.

Day 12, 6.53 pm

The sun continued to come through and we got a very nice orange and yellow sunset.

Day 13, 6.34 pm

This was taken the last night before freedom. I accidently caught a tiny piece of the Hilton on the left side.

This might sound a little cheesy, but it really did help a lot to be able to look out of the window and see that the world outside still existed. The level of activity outside did drop after the movement order came into effect. It was a little surreal to see the river devoid of larger boats. I wonder how much better the fishing was for the folks out there in their little dinghies.