Star cruising again!

Around this time last year, we went for star cruise named Gemini. The experiences of cruising was greats until we went another round of it but this time, we took cruise Libra. Cruise Libra is slightly bigger than cruise Gemini.

Some of you might be wondering what is so nice about cruising which has made me adventure it twice.... he he. Well, I personally feel relax to go cruise and have few good points in mind to share with you.

a) Cruise will embark at few places depends on the route you join. You could enjoy few hours of local trip at each destination.

b) No hassle of room checking in and out when you travel from one place to another. For instance, we departure from PK to Phuket and then to S’pore, but we still sleep in the same room.

c) They sail while you sleep, so you could save some traveling time. When you wake up the next day, you probably reach another destination. Amazing right?

d) They provide foods to all passengers. You don’t need to worry about your meals thus no headache to search for food. What you need to do is just walk in the restaurant after glance through their menu of the day. We were given 3 choices of venue to have our meal in the past 5D 4N cruise. From international buffet to Chinese and Western restaurant, go to any of the restaurant, your stomach will feel satisfy. Besides the 3 normal meals, we were also being served 2 tea breaks and 1 supper daily. So all of us just makan (eat), minum (drink) and tidur (sleep) there. What a relax life!
e) There are a lot of free activities being organizing from morning till night. You won’t feel bore. Standard facilities are also available for you to explore.

Feel interesting? Ha ha ha….. you may want to plan the same for your family. Here I posted some photos taken inside the cruise, don’t be surprised most of it were food. Tell you what, I’m truly madly and deeply missing the pasta. It’s sooooooooo yummy!

From right : Our room with a porthole (additional charges). 3 happy kids. Shannen was enjoying cake.

From right : Both my gals like to play on the upper deck bed. They were making a lot of "whoa...." when they saw big ships passing by.

From left : this is the best pasta in town.

Now only I realized I didn't snap any food served by Chinese Restaurant :( , perhaps I was too hungry that time.

When we were at Harbourfront Terminal, S'pore, Virgo Star Cruise was parked beside us. We got the chance to view it for the first time. Comparing with Libra, Virgo is huge, awesome and astonishing. I told hubby this will be our target next year.

I'm Back .....

Halo, wondering why I'm so quiet since last week? He he... I was away for vacation. Will catch up with you all soon after fully recharge. Don't worry, will definitely post photos on places I've been. Stay tune!

Yahoo! Grabbed 4 free tickets!

I knew the internet connection to Air Asia website will be hundred time slower or even stay tuned once the news of free one million air ticket being released 2 days ago. But I was still lured to join the crowd as I wish to get some sponsor for my dream destination, Bangkok.

I've being trying to search for date to Bangkok ever since yesterday morning (working while surfing or the other way round... :P), but don't even got chance to go further after choosing the destination. A bit disappointed. So after reached home, I immediately sat in front of hubby's computer to try my luck again.

With my patience, finally I managed to grabbed 4 free air tickets to Bangkok next year. We paid total RM572 for 4 tickets and the cost includes airport tax, charges for luggage up to 15kg, goinsure premium and something call 'convenience fee' which is new to me. Air Asia is introducing new cost to the customer in order to compensate the admin fee and fuel charges they had waived some months back???

Ok, back to this 'convenience fee', what does it mean actually? If not mistaken, it was explained that it is the fee incurred due to the conveniences that you get when you book and pay air ticket online. But I still don't understand nor agree why we need to pay for "conveniences".

However, the total cost is still very much lower. We could save up to nearly RM700 if compare to normal low fare tickets. Yahooooo! :)

Ops, let me tell you, all these 4 tickets are not going to fly 4 of us for a holidays next year. They are for my parents, my sister and myself. Ha ha..... we are going to explore Bangkok with two old folks. Hubby doesn't like to go Bangkok. He is still thinking that Bangkok is a place for "shopping kaki" only. I'm gonna prove him wrong after my trip there. He he!

Planning for a short break?

Are you planning for a short break during coming school holidays?

Let me know if you are interested for a break to Kenyir Lake Resort before end of this year. My sister intends to sell her voucher that she purchased during last Matta Fair. This voucher is valid until end of this year with no restriction on booking whether during public or school holidays.

This voucher is a package for 1 superior chalet with 2 nights stay at Kenyir Lake Resort which includes 2 breakfast for 2 pax. Normal price is RM576. But now the voucher is only selling at RM396 (no mark-up), you can save up to RM180. So please let me know if any of you or your relatives, friends are interested to buy over the voucher by 30 Oct 2009.

My Dream Garden

This is the place I’m dreaming to hop on one day….. Keukenhof Tulips Garden at Amsterdam, Netherlands. Keukenhof in Dutch means ‘kitchen garden’. It is the world’s largest flower garden. There are million of blooming flower bulbs being plant in the park and you could find majority are tulips flower (my favorite).

This garden only open for public from the 4th week of March to Mid May (check the exact date here). However the best timing to view tulips is around mid Apr, weather around that time will be in range of 5-15 degree Celsius. Em…very cooling. Not sure I could stand for it, hopefully I’ll not freeze.

When the day comes, I wish I could bring along a super duper camera to capture all the beautiful and fantastic flowers in the park. I’ve checked the air ticket from KLIA to Amsterdam, flying by KLM will cost around RM4200 (2 ways) per person. Wah… if the whole family are going, it will cost us a bomb. I’m just talking the air tickets alone, how about accommodation and food? Pengsan liaw……. No wonder hubby said if we plan to go Netherlands, might as well travel around other Europe countries to safe the air tickets cost. It's true also. So got to start saving big big money for my dream.

Perth, Western Australia (Last Day)

We woke up at 4am today when everyone was still enjoying their sweet dream under the warm blanket, no choice our flight was 7.00am. Again felt so sorry to Mr.& Mrs.Wong as they also got to wake up so early.

Mrs.Wong prepared some simple breakfast for us before Mr.Wong sent us to airport. We appreciate their hospitality and kindness so much and promised to bring them for Kajang's satay (his son favorite food) when they are back to Malaysia again next time.

This was truly a wonderful trip. Goodbye Perth! I will be back........

Perth, Western Australia (Day 6)

Before we leave Perth the next day, we planned to buy some souvenirs today. Ops....I'm yet to see any koala bear and kangaroo (beside those dead body and some wild kangaroo while driving down south). So, we decided to visit Perth Zoo. Ha ha......

Firstly, Mr.Wong drove us to a hardware shop.....no, it's big and should be a warehouse. This is the biggest hardware warehouse we have been. You can find everything and anything you need or you don't. The warehouse is even bigger than Tesco. After getting what he wanted, we moved to Swan Valley for lunch and buy some honey from a bee's farm.

After that, Mr.Wong sent us to Perth Zoo. Yeah.... don't you think it's weird to go zoo at our age without bringing our children? He he.... what to do? We paid AU$19 (RM50) per pax for entry fee. Huh.... expensive hor? Never mind, we willing to pay for you, koala bear. Mr.Wong's children said we were lucky to see an awake koala. This is because koala usually sleeps 16 hours in a day.

Hungry tiger.... keep on knocking the window glass when walk close to people.

Find this cute tree, name "sausage tree".

Due to we missed out an important tourist attraction yesterday, we planned to go there after this. So we explored the zoo in an express way. Roughly in 2 hours time we finished our task and took a bus to the city center again. We were trying our best to reach there before they close for the day. Luckily, we arrived just 15 mins before they close, it's Perth's Mint. This is the place where you can watch gold pour but unfortunately we missed the 'train'. There are schedule for tour in The Perth's Mint. At first I thought the tour is free but answer is no. If not mistaken, they are charging AU$22 per person for 30 to 45 mins tour. Don't you think it's expensive?

In front of The Perth's Mint

This was the last stop for today. Really tired!

Perth, Western Australia (Day 5)

It's Mother's Day today.

Feel so 'pai seh' to disturb Mr.Wong and his family as they have 2 strangers to celebrate Mother's Day together this year. They were celebrating this special day by treating Mrs.Wong a delicious dim sum at Six Happiness located in city. It's our pleasure to join them. We bothered them so much today as they got to drive 2 cars to city for brunch. The traffic law there is very strict. 5 person in a car means only 5 and you can't tolerate even hand carry one more baby (fyi, toddlers below 2 years must be seated inside a car seat). So we can't squeeze everyone inside a car even the car is big enough to cater 7 of us like how we usually did in Malaysia.

The restaurant open at 10am but by the time we reached (around 10.30am), it was already full house. We took a number and wait outside for almost 20minutes. The waiting crowd getting bigger by the time our number being called. By looking at the crowd, we must agreed that this restaurant serves very tasty dim sum even we are yet to taste because comparing to the next door restaurant which only half of the tables being occupied. Emm....yummy, we are truly satisfied with the dim sum they served. I like the 'fried mini fish' with egg inside and 'fried baby crab' so much.

After the brunch, Mr.Wong brought us to the city centre and guide us the route for sightseeing and shopping. With the map on hand, we won't be losing our way. We assured them and they left us to explore the city by our own.

We walked from one corner to the other as per the route suggestion inside the map. I think we have marked a record of 5km walking distance in Perth City. *Phew*. Even though I find it quite tiring but it was a nice and relaxing experience. My only complaint : both legs' muscles were exhausted and so painful.

London Street

Swan Bell

Government Council

St.George's Church

Inside St.George's church (I'm so excited as this was the first time I went to a proper 'church' like we usually see from movie and it's so amazing)

Inside St.George's church. It's so unique

This is not statue but real women!

Time to go home now. We will be taking LRT and bus to go back to Mr.Wong house by our own. Not a problem at all. People there are helpful and there have a good safety environment, so we don't have much worried. Unlike Mr.Wong, he worried that we might taken the wrong bus or miss the bus station where we suppose to stop, he purposely walked to the bus station and wait for us. A big thanks to him!

Perth, Western Australia (Day 4)

Today, we have a local tour guide (Mr.Wong) to bring us explore few places around Perth City.

After having breakfast, our first stop was Market City. What is so special about this market until Mr.Wong think we shall pay a visit as usually tourist won't be coming here? This is a market distributing all sort of goods or shall I say grocery for resell purpose. It's just like our Selayang Market. The only differences are they only open to public every Saturday (to get rid off those balance stuff before they off on Sunday), they sell everything in box, tray or bulk and you will find majority of buyers are Asean. Why? Asean like to pay little for more things, to increase profit especially for those who run business in restaurant or even for housewife, they can save money through some good deal over there. Mr.Wong said you will not find yourself in "ang mo" country as you can see so many Asean here.

One big basket of apple costs AUS10-15.

Not sure what kind of fruit is this, AUS20/tray.

Walnut : AUS10/bag

Mushroom : AUS30/box and Persimmon : AUS20/tray (price drops as it's getting late)

After that, we went to Kings Park, a reserved garden at Perth city center. This delightful parkland is big and you feel so greats and comfortable walking around. The grass there was so green and soft. For natural lover like us, we enjoyed the peacefulness there so much.

Perth City, view from Kings Park

Next, we drove to University Of Western Australia (UWA). To study overseas used to be my dream. Since I've missed the chance, I felt so good to walk around there for some fresh air. UWA is the oldest and one of the famous university in WA. I wish my girls will have opportunity to study here one day.

University Of WA

Then we moved to Fremantle which took about 45 minutes drive from the city. We arrived Fremantle before noon and straightaway went to Fremantle Market for shopping. This is another market that only open on certain day. From here, you are able to find many different types of souvenirs with reasonable price.

Fremantle market, selling all kind of fruits.

Restaurant Cicerello's

Anyone who visited Fremantle will definitely try their famous food, fish and chips. Mr.Wong told us that his children like the fish and chips here so much and find it's the best. So how can we miss that? We went to a restaurant called Cicerello's for fish and chips. The restaurant was full of people and luckily we managed to find places to sit. This is a self service restaurant, we have to queue up for order and to collect it when it's ready. The business was so good and we have waited for almost 1/2 hours to get our food. Emm..... the fish was fresh and so tasty. This was the first time we use bare hand to eat fish & chips and chili mussels, no cutlery at all.

After filling up our stomach, we left Fremantle and heading towards Lake Monger. From far, I could see a lot of "black spot" floating on the lake. Wondering what was that? When come closer, it's black swans! Lake Monger is a natural attraction and home to the famous black swans. All the black swans here are being protected. They were so friendly and weren't afraid of human. They walked closer to us for photo shooting...... cheeseeeee!

This is our last stop before we wrapped up today's itinerary.

*Mr.Wong brought us to an Asean food court for dinner. If you miss curry laksa, cantonese fried mee, Kajang satay, chay kuai teow, bak kut teh, etc, you could have it all here. And if you are home sick (for those migrated), you will feel better as you can find some home feeling from here too.

Perth, Western Australia (Day 3)

"We are late again today" I told hubby when we were moving our luggage to the car. The car park which were full yesterday night was nearly empty this early morning, 7.30am. Wondering the people staying in the same hotel has adapted to the culture here, 'start the day early and come back early too'. Not really our style. We tend to wake up late and sleep late.....agree?

After having sandwitches for breakfast at Subway, we took out our map and drove to Smith Beach, Yallingup. To our surprise the beach was so beautiful. I think the weather also help to contribute to beautify the scenery. Another sunny day with blue sky but windy. I still can feel it so cooling even with my jumper.

After spending nearly an hour there, we moved to another attraction, Eagle Bay. I'm not sure why it was called Eagle Bay as no eagle around, only a light house. I don't see any value added to visit a light house that cost me AU$15 per person. We just mingle at the entrance for some photo shooting before we move to Sugarloaf, a heart shape rocks.

Bushfire happened in Feb, luckily the light house is safe.

Can't really see the heart shape rock from this angle.

We enjoyed driving so much as the road was built along the sea side. You can easily have the sea view while driving, it's so different.

Since we got to travel back to Perth by late afternoon, we started our journey back a little earlier. Another approximately 330km to reach Perth, whoaaa..... !

We leaved message to Mr.Wong to pick us up from the car rental center as we need to return the car today. The office closed by 5pm so we were informed earlier to just dropped the car key inside a "drop key" box located outside the building. Do you think this unofficial way of returning car is safe?

After jumped into Mr.Wong's car, he drove us back to his house. Yes, we will be spending the remaining nights at his house.

We received a warm welcome from his family before dinner. We have not been eating rice for 3 days! So our stomach were truly satisfied with the dinner. Later on, we gathered for tea and fruits. Besides chit chatting, we also planned itinerary for the next day.