Sunday, April 07, 2013

Cruise: A Brief Stop at Vietnam

A fleet of buses awaited at Phu My Port, ready to transport cruise passengers on a two-hour journey to Ho Chi Minh City. The cruise ship had docked at Phu My Port, which serves as the main gateway for visitors heading to Vietnam’s bustling southern metropolis.
Our Vietnamese tour guide was very proud to capture this photo for us!
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There are many motorcycles in Vietnam. Respect for traffic laws are clearly not diligently observed!
Another landmark: The Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City.
Everything centres on one person in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh. He is fondly referred to as Uncle Ho by all Vietnamese. Saigon was renamed after him on 1 May 1975.

Vietnam is currently in transition from being an undeveloped country to becoming a developing country.
There are still many who prefer to enjoy the easy pace of lives rather than be caught in the rat race!

Cruise:Voyager of the Seas

We finally checked off one of the items on our bucket list - going on a cruise holiday from 23.03.2013 to 01.04.2013. The experience exceeded all our expectations, offering a perfect blend of relaxation, adventure, and unforgettable moments.

Here are some snapshots capturing what we did and enjoyed on board the ship.
Among the tour group members are Philip and May.
The dinner service was impeccable. Picture above with Mr. Baiju, our waiter from Kerara India who has been serving with Royal Caribbean for over 12 years. 
24-hour cafe and the shopping arcade.
The casino.

For guests seeking an active start to the day, the ship offered a range of facilities - including a swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, and a scenic jogging track. Our friend, Philip Quak, impressively clocked 10 laps around the track each morning.

For those who preferred a more leisurely pace, there were plenty of deck chairs to lounge on while enjoying the sea breeze and panoramic views. And for the thrill-seekers, a mini casino offered a touch of excitement and the chance to test their luck.

Apart from the never-ending buffet spreads, the ship was brimming with activities that kept us entertained from morning till well past midnight - we often went to bed reluctantly, not wanting to miss out on anything.

One of our favorite routines was the nightly coffee sessions at Cafe Promenade, where we indulged in a delightful selection of sandwiches and irresistibly soft, chewy cookies. If my grandson Nathan had been with us, he would have absolutely loved those cookies - they were just his kind of treat!

The nightly stage performances at the grand La Scala Theatre were truly world-class. Featuring professional acts ranging from musicals, magic shows, and juggling acts to an impressive ice skating performance, each show could easily rival productions that would cost over 200 Singapore dollars on land.

And to top it off, we managed to catch four excellent 3D movies during the week - never before have we watched so many great films in such a short time. It was entertainment overload in the best possible way!
We were very impressed by the service of the house keeping staff. Their creativity was amazing!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Taipei in March: 6

SOME OF THE FOOD WE ATE
Of course, anyone who comes to Taipei will surely try the local beef noodle except probably those who dislike or are allergic to beef . We found this shop by accident one morning in our food hunt which is near to the hotel we stayed. It turned out that this outlet had one time won second price during Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival.
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Roast duck in one of the more high end restaurants
Braised meat mushroom rice in Huahsi Night Market. To maximize tasting more varieties of food, we normally ordered one set to be shared by two!

Taipei in March: 5

HIGH SPEED RAIL
One of the reasons we decided to visit Kaohsiung was to try the high speed train which the locals call HSR or 台灣高鐵. The one-way fare from Taipei to Kaoshiung is NT$1,480 (RM160) and it just took 1.5 hours to cover 400 Km. The maximum speed I noticed on the digital displace was 294 Km/Hr. The ride was comfortable and the scenery along the way also made the trip interesting. Food items and tit-bits are sold by uniformed staff with trolley much like Airasia flights. Kaohsiung 

Train Station is utra-modern and is comparable to our KLIA.
Scenes of farmland captured through window of speeding train.
KAOHSIUNG
My impression of Kaohsiung: a city full of motorbikes. Well, probably not as "bad" as in some of the towns in West Malaysia!