Cruise Photos

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Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Recently we went for a short holiday during the Chinese New Year period onboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's  Legends of the Seas.

Well the cruise ship is not very new, but it has gone through some upgrades, You get this feeling that it's old. It's a big ship but I think there were less people and it was not so crowded onboard unlike Star Cruises where I felt it was really crowded. We got ourselves a balcony room. Check in at Harbour Front was smooth. By the time everything was done and we were onboard it was around noon and we went for lunch, all meals are included and even the snacks in-between meals were free you could get hamburgers, pizza's or a hot dog and fries. Well one of the first purchases we got was to get this mug where it's free flow of soft drinks 24hrs a day !! I think one of the better purchases on board. It was like $7 or $8 per day. You could just get the bartender to refill the mug below (which came free with the purchase) or just flash your room card which they indicated with a sticker on it to inform the waiters that you could get any soft drink any time of the day.

The buffet spread was good, I think much better than Star Cruises, however there is only 1 main restaurant and the table sitting was terrible they really have to improve on the allocation as they allocated by rooms but with out taking into consideration family groups The first night we sat with a couple whose 2 sons were seated at a different table luckily it was just the next table so we swapped with them and the family got to seat together but then during the course of the cruise we were moved between these 2 tables. I have no idea what was going on but we did not make too much of a fuss since it is just the next table. I think a lot of people were pretty upset and there was a long queue to get the tables changed.

First stop was Port Klang, we did not really do much sight seeing as we have already been to KL. So while most of the tourist took the guided tours, we spent our time on the ship. There were still activities going on, we tried out some deck games and even the mini-golf course. As you can see below, the 'Mr and Mrs Tiger Woods' ha ha .... well at least there is that Nike cap :)

Next Stop Phuket, we got down to the beaches and we did some sight-seeing. Phuket is really nice. Phuket by day and night is really beautiful.

But one thing is for sure, the Tsunami has definitely left it's mark there with signs now showing evacuation routes like the one below.

These were the 2 places on the 5 day cruise which we were on. Since it was a Lunar New Year Cruise there was a big countdown with ballon drops in the main atrium. They even gave out $8 Ang Pows which you can redeem at .... yes you guessed it ... the Casino. Other activities on board included the ever popular Bingo, nightly shows, towel folding demonstrations, fruit cutting, cake making, line dancing, aerobics work out, magic show (this one done at the pool with an Escape Artist), ice sculpting, rock climbing, live bands and many many more activities or you could just sit by the pool, enjoy the breeze and get a tan.

More photos to come .......

Slumdog Millionaire

Me and the missus caught our first show of the year over the weekend and it was Slumdog Millionaire, we caught it just before the Oscars, since they have won 8 of them now, the missus was telling me that it was lucky we got to catch it before the crowds. It's a really entertaining show and we were glad it got so many Oscars.

It's about the life of a kid from India's kids from the slum's and an Indian friend of mine at work told me at work that's it's true how the kids lived that way. A rags to riches story and a happy ending.

A little spoiler here .... stay till the end of the movie and catch the credits, there is a bollywood style dance scene.

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th will be the day I completed CARS on my XBox 360. woohooo...

Another Year, Another Wait

It's the Annual $10million Lunar New Year Toto draw, well it has come and gone and another year I have missed. Well guess will have to try again next year :)

Rain

Ha it finally rained today, not much but at least a shower fell. I can't remember when it last rained ... .... ... a month a go ???

Medical Screening

Finally after months of being pestered by the missus, I decided to make an appointment for my medical screening. I did this a few days before the lunar new year I figured, it would be worst after the festivities with all that eating and drinking. So there I was signed up for the full health screening package at Mt Alvernia. When I signed up, they gave me a little plastic container to put my stool sample in. So I was to report at 8am for the medical and it was going to be a half day affair. You had to fast the night before and there were other rules and stuff you need to follow.

I arrived a little late on that day. Managed to get the stool sample the previous night - that has got to be the most disgusting thing you ever have to do for a health screening, to collect your stool. I arrived there at 8.15am registered myself, and they gave me another little container, this time it was for a urine sample. Off I went to the little boys room to go tinker around till the little wee wee comes out and fill half the bottle. They took both my stool and urine sample for analysis.

First station for the day was X-Ray, I had to go to the basement where the X-Ray machines were and I got my chest x-rayed, you know that chicken wing spread you had to do in front of this cold hard steel thing. They took just 1 shot that was good. At the same level (the basement) I did my next station the Ultrasound. I felt like some pregnant woman, the nurse really pressed hard and took shots of my insides. I could not make out what was on the screen but I guess they knew what they were looking for. I did ask, if everything was still intact inside and the nurse replied yep all there still.

Next up it was back to the 1st level to do the ECG scan, had tons of wires hooked up to me and they did some chart printing of my heart rate. After which it was time for my height and weight to be taken. Then it was off to another room for my vision check, colour blindness check and at this room it was also the dreaded 'Vampire' check where my blood sample had to be drawn. I am just glad that I got an elderly nurse as she hit the spot with 1 prick, they took 3 vials of blood using a butterfly needle (I think that was what she called it) as she put a plaster over the place where the needle was inserted, she did a curious thing, after the plaster she put a small cotton bud over the needle hole and covered it with another tape, She told me that will help keep the bruising down. That was interesting.

Well I am almost done, it was time to see the doctor. While waiting for the doctor they gave me something to eat since I had fasted since last night and it was almost lunchtime now, I had coffee and some sandwiches. The doctor did a medical review, the standard family history, eating habits, drinking habits, etc. etc. Took my blood pressure which he commented was on the high side. He flip through my charts, and commented that I had a slow heart rate. For a moment I thought that was a bad thing and asked him if that was bad and he said no exactly it just means your heart is more efficient. Normally he said it's common in athletes. well I guess some of that running since my younger days did some good. He then proceeded to do a full body check starting from the top, the head, nose, ears, eyes, neck, arms, lungs, back, spine, joints, etc. He did that reflex thingy where he hit your 'funny bone' and tickle the soul of your feet as well. He even checked the anus, I had to lie on my side in a foetal position and I think he either jab something in my anus or put his finger up it to check and he gave my postate an all clear.

Lastly it was the threadmill test, where I had to run on a threadmill while attached to all these wires again, it took about 15 minutes for the test to complete.

Once that was done, my medical was over. I made another appointment for the review, well I probably will write about it in the next article.

Clock

Our house clock recently 'expired' well it had been a long time (no pun intended) and I figured that maybe the battery needed changing, Well it did just that it was so old that it leaked out and caused the whole clock to not work. So in the end had to replace the clock with a new one. I think from now on I'll change the battery every 6 months to avoid the battery leaking.

8 Lions and a Dragon

Decided to pop over to the Whampoa Hawker Centre for dinner. Encountered a most interesting sight. As we were finishing our dinner a truck pulled up and the familiar sounds of drums and cymbals could be heard, it was a Lion Dance troupe, we were having our dessert at that time so after finishing it we went to the front of the Hawker Centre intending to catch a Lion Dance performance, They were unloading the Lions and Drums. We thought they would be going around the various Hawker Stalls to do a quick performance and get the Red Packets (Hong Bao) from the stall owners but no it seems one of the stalls had requested for this special Lion Dance performance and what a performance it was, mind you this is a Hawker Centre.

They had 8 Lions, yep that's right. I've never seen 8 Lions doing a Lion Dance performance before for a stall or any function for that matter. What they did was 2 Lions each went to the 4 corners of the Hawker Centre and when the drums and cymbals started they moved in towards the intended stall. I think it's like coming together from the North, South, East and West. All 8 Lion Dancers arrived at the stall and did a gathering performance. A crowd had gathered now to watch this. After that initial performance there was the 2 Lion Performance where they did the lettuce, orange pomello stun to make chinese characters of good fortune and also bring good fortune to the stall. The Lion Dancers even stood on each other to reach the Red Packets which were placed high up on the stalls signboard. The performers had to even climb up on tables and chairs as it was really cramp. Some diners had to be moved for this. 

If you thought that was all, you're wrong. Next came the Dragon Dance. Now this I have never seem before a Dragon Dance held in a Hawker Centre. It was a marvel to see the long Dragon snaking it's way through the chairs and tables to get to the stall. The only thing was that me and the missus did not have our handphones at that moment to take photo's of this unique event.