Trip to Penang and Phuket (Part 2)

Group Photo in the balcony

We had signed up a land tour in Penang from 1400 to 1945. Me and my family woke up at about 0800 to have breakfast at a restaurant called Bella Vista.

Bella Vista sign

We were supposed to have breakfast with our cousins and second aunt. Usually, we are always late. So, we woke up early that day to beat a record. Guess what? They didn't show up! They had woken up late and gone somewhere else!

Anyway, never mind that. After breakfast, we went to The Lido for disembarking. It was raining outside, so we were given ponchos. We were dispatched in groups according to which tour we were joining. There were quite a number of people in our group, almost the number of people seatable in a normal coach.

Me in the poncho!

We were first taken to ride in a trishaw. The coach let us alight near the gathering point. I rode in the trishaw with my cousin. The trishaw took us through the streets of Little India. The trishaw was wet due to weather, so the cover had to be put over us. The view was therefore affected. To put it simply, it wasn't a good day for trishaw ride.

Street Scene

My dad in the trishaw... imagine the cover drapped over your whole body

After that, we visited some Buddhist temples. A few photos we took...

The Lying Buddha. The one in the pink shirt is my mum. Compare the sizes.

After all the visiting and taking of pictures, the guide then took us to a chocolate shop. Many types of chocolates were available. There were durian chocolates, coconut chocolates, even chili and curry chocolates!

The shop's exterior

Curry chocolates

The shop's special... Durian Chocolates!

After that, we headed down to Gurney Plaza, which was near the sea. There was an amazing view. It had also become rather cooling, so I enjoyed that part the most.

View of the sea in the evening from Gurney Plaza

We went for dinner first, at a cluster of roadside eateries. Many of the reknown Penang foodstuff were sold there, waiting for us to try them. yum!

the stalls have not opened yet...
my dad, myself and my aunt (from the left)

My younger brother

After that, we went to Gurney Plaza for a little shopping. I bought some shirts while the rest bought some other stuff. Sadly, we couldn't finish looking at the different shops as we had to get back to the bus on time.

View from ship from jetty

The next stop was the jetty. After having dinner at The Mediterranean, we went to The Lido to enjoy a performance by the crew. Photos were allowed this time, so there will be many shown to you readers!

Mass dance

Duo in romance
MJ resemblence!

Looks like a bunch of thick-skinned women? Look closer...

it's cross-dressing!

Due to our rather packed schedule the next day, we decided to tuck into bed early.

NOEL!

You might be wondering what 'NOEL!' is. Yes, it's got to do with Christmas and no, it features no Santa Claus......





It was my band's EOY concert!



It was a Saturday then. 11 Dec. I was excited because this was going to be my first concert i have ever performed. We had been rehearsing since June. Sadly, I had maths tuition class before that. My mum said it was the last lesson, so it could not be missed. My section leader was pretty pissed when I told him that. It's like I make excuses for myself to be absent all the time. No doubt he was pissed...

After the lesson, my parents drove me to school. Luckily, the band had not left the gathering spot yet! Therefore, I was late, but on time...( ok, that sounds wierd...)

Still, I got my tuba and all the stuff I needed and went down to the Cheng Yi Auditorium at the JC side of the school. It was a long walk, especially with my tuba. The JC side is all the way at the other end of the school compound. It was up the hill and down again. (Grand Duke of York...)

We got there and deposited our instruments under the stairs to the RUA (Room Under Auditorium). We were int=structed to help out the JC with whatever they needed help with. After all, we are still one big fanily...

The JC band leader had ordered abt 30-40+ benches from the canteen, which had not arrived. Therefore, we were sent to help with the benches. 2 to each bench. The canteen was a several metre walk away. We had almost 60+ people helping out with the benches. 2 main conditions had to be met. Benches must not be shaky (a leg is shorter than the other legs) and must not have some bird shit on it. Many a benches were rejected. But in the end, we still got all our 40+ benches.

We had to haul them in after that. It was tiring work. Some of us had already changed into the suits for later's performance. Poor people sitting around them must have been stunk out. The chairs on stage had to be take out then. It was done in no time at all. The counter outside was set up. The chairs and percussion were set up. Then came the practise.

The conducters had already arrived. The conducter for the junior batch, Mr Kiang, a plump but jovial and funny man, ran through the songs we were supposed to play for the concert. After that, the junior band evacuated the place to allow the seniors, the JC band rehearse. We deposited our instruments in the RUA and went all the way back to High School side for the food. (By the time we finished, it was almost dusk). There were 7 big bags of food, 10 each bag, and another 3 for conductors.

We brought the food back to the Cheng Yi Auditorium to put the JC's food there before realising we could've brought the food back to OBR (Outdoor Band Room, Hish School) first and sent a team to bring the food to JC. Therefore, there was a quarrel between the leaders of the group. Luckily, it didn't last long. The food had gotten them to stop the inseccant quarrels and focus on eating. We refuelled water at the nearby food bar and changed into our suits.

The only thing I couldn't do myself, was the tie. Just the day before, my dad had just shown me how to do it. But due to the great upheavel of events, I had forgotten how to do it. I asked a band leader, Jay to remind me again how to tie it. He showed me and tied others. I tried tying my own. I was still tying even when I had gotten out of the OBR, heading for Cheng Yi Auditorium. In the end, I gave up, going back to Jay, asking him to help me tie it. }: {

We went through warm-ups and scales once more before letting the audience in. Meanwhile, we sat at our places and waited for the MCs to introduce the band and the conducters. Then Mr Kiang got on stage. We played the songs and got off the stage. It was a rush and a hectic mess. people were rushing out in any order.

After that, we were allowed to go up to join the audience at the back. It was a very entertaining show the seniors put up. Most of the songs were pop songs and Christmas carols. In fact, it was so good, that there were many who wanted an encore piece. Sadly, they were disappointed by the MCs. Nevertheless, they played a short piece.

After all the audience have left, we were to help with the putting back of benches, chairs, stands, instruments etc. After all was done, it was a quick dismissal. Already 2300 by then, so I went directly to the car.

That's the end of that wonderful day.

Cruise to Penang and Phuket (Part 1)

This year, we decided to go on a cruise instead of a plane. We have been taking the plane for one too many times already. Therefore, we wanted to experience going out to sea again. It was also my brother's first time out to sea, so he was rather excited. Cousins were coming too. Days before, the bags had already been packed. All there was left to do, was to wait...

The day finally arrived after my band concert "NOEL!"(which you can read about in the previous post). We got out of the house by about 1100+. We took a cab all the way to the Cruise Centre at HarbourFront. It was a hellish queue. It stretched all the way to the lower floor.

So, My dad and I checked in the luggage first and met up with our cousins. Second Aunt was there too. We all Started the queue and boarded the ship. We were Balcony Class. Second Aunt and her sons (my cousins) had a 'World Cruisers' Class (common rooms).

The ship was huge.

Side of Ship

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ES high.

View from Observation Deck (Deck 13)

As long as about 5/4 of Vivo's length.

It is Virgo, biggest of the Star Cruise fleet.

(see more at Star Cruise website)

The lobby was huge and dazzling, lots of gold. Plush chairs were lined in neat rows by the side of the lobby. juice or i think sparkling alcohol was served. We waited till all of us had gotten on board and had settled into the rooms before going up to have lunch at Deck 12. The ship was still docked at HarbourFront and would only start the departure at 1800. Meanwhile, we went around exploring the ship. There are many eateries, restaurants. There is a whole lot of other stuff to do. There is a library, a game's corner, pool, arcade, gym, driving range, disco etc...

Corridor

The captain ordered a mass gathering of passengers for a brief on how to use the life vest and what to do in times of emergency. The briefing took about 10 minutes. We returned to our room first to get ready for dinner. By 1800, the ship was moving. Many were seen on the deck, including ourselves. We took quite a number of photos. Then, we went up to have dinner at Deck 12. It was a FOC buffet called The Mediterranean Buffet. We had a seat that was downwind from the smoking area. We didn't like, it, but it was all we could make do with. Our first dinner on board the cruise was not really satisfactory due to the seat. The beef, according to my cousin, wasn't good either. The view was good though.

Ship's moving!

We went to a show at The Lido. It was a comedy. The main star was a superb juggler. He entertained the audience much! I really liked his performance. Sadly, no photography was allowed, so i only got photos of the theatre itself...

The Lido

There was a football match to be broadcast on board in a small theatre that night. Chelsea against Newcastle. At 2300. My older cousin and I decided to go watch as there would be sufficient time to wake up and be ready for the land tour the next day. Furthermore, he is also a fan of Chelsea. Of course he would watch the match. I was just tagging along as a neutral party. Most of the people there were supporting Newcastle. We were the only ones standing out. It ended as a 1-1 draw, so there was great disappointment.