Sail Away With Royal Caribbean

5 day 4 night cruise with Royal Caribbean and at the end of the cruise, my conclusion? It was indeed "royal". The service was excellent and food was excellent too.

Day 2 and 3 the ship stopped over at Port Klang (Malaysia) and Phuket (Thailand). We had been to Kuala Lumpur so many times, therefore we ended up staying onboard that day. Although we had been to Phuket before, but the last time round we were practically at the villa sunbathing most of the time and didn't get to see much of the island. We signed up for a 5 hour tour : Phuket City and Cultural Tour. 70% of our time was eating and sleeping since there were not that many activities for us. The balance 30%? Sunbathing, reading my book, shopping and watching performances by Royal Caribbean dancers and singers.

Though now that I'm back in Singapore, I still have the feeling that I am onboard a ship. I keep having this "choppy" feeling..

Sunburn & Lombok

Date : January 8 - 12
Venue : Imaj Villas (Lombok, Indonesia)

My 2nd visit to Imaj since last year March 2008 with my family and friends. I was at their 3-bedroom villa again since the package was purchased a year ago and expiring in February this year. I bought it for US$600 for 5 days last year. Recently, Imaj had this promotion and their 3-bedroom villas was selling at US$40 per night only!!! @#$@#$@#@#$@@$#@#

Anywa, since I'm just back from my retreat, I'll briefly summarize on what I did. The photos below are the villa I was staying (forgotten to take a photo of the bedroom I was sleeping in). And not forgettig me sunbathing... and came back with sunburn. OUCH!!!

1 of my dinner, I invited the chef to cook at my villa. While they were busy preparing my dinner, I went to peep on how they prepared the food and penned it on my notebook. I will use it for one of my cooking class ho ho ho...

I took some photos of the place as well. Not a thorough photo tour, but at least better than nothing?

Due to me and my sunburn, I couldn't have a body scrub at the spa. I ended up with a full body massage, strawberry mask and milk (body), anti-agiing facial and pedicure. I took their Christmas & New Year special package which included 3 course dinner and a bottle of red wine. All these for only Rp960, 000!!! SO CHEAP!!!

On my last night in Lombok, I went to this seafood restaurant recommended by the staff at Imaj. They said the seafood there is not only fresh, but cheap as well. Verdict: GREAT GOOD, NICE AMBIENT AND SUPER CHEAP!!! 1 Lobster, 4 King Prawn, 6 sticks of Calamari, 1 whole Red Snapper, a plate of vegetables and rice and beer : Rp291, 000.

Some of the food I had while in Lombok, too layz to take picture for all my meals there =p

Not forgetting my cute pinkystreet doll. I was so lazy that only took a few photos for Yoshiko.

I was kind of unlucky. My 3rd night there I got sting by a bee on my nose, 4th night by an unknown insect on my right foot and ended up still swollen till now.

I didn't buy anything when in Lombok since the place isn't a shopping paradise. It is more for relaxation, spa, watersport, scuba diving and cheap and good seafood. I ended up spending quite a fair amount on tipping the staff at Imaj.

This will be a busy week for me for I'll be away again next week for cruise from Monday - Thursday. And after that will be Chinese New Year. Gosh! So many things to be done by this week!!!

4 Days 3 Nights In Kuala Lumpur. SINFUL!!!

I'd been to KL for many times, this was my fifth time to KL. We travelled by Aeroline, a luxury coach carrier. Upper deck is where the seatings are, and lower deck is like a rest area for you to stretch yourself, and it even has a toilet. Once you onboard, they serve you food and drinks exactly the way as when you travel via airplane. I prefer to travel in this than airplane. It is much more of a hassle to board a plane etc etc...

2 days before we departed, I changed the hotel that we would be staying in KL. Instead of Mandarin Oriental, I picked a new hotel right smack in the shopping area, Bukit Bintang. The hotel opened in April this year. New isn't it? If you do plan to travel to KL, stay here. Price is reasonable, excellent location and most importantly, NEW! It is called The Piccolo Hotel. I requested for connectiong rooms, so that I could access to my parents' room easily.

This trip I also managed to meeet up with my ex-colleague who lives and works in KL, and not forgetting my god-bro who is currently studying in KL. During our 4 days stay, everyday was eating and shopping and nothing else. My damage is scary. I bought total of 3 pairs of shoes, 1 pair from Vincci (this is my cheapest purchase among all) and 2 pairs from Aldo. I also bought a tee from Mango, and not forgetting one from Mooks which is one of my favourite brands of tees. AND I FOUND A JUICY COUTURE BOUTIQUE AT PAVILION!!! I was so happy that I bought 2 tees from Juicy. Please do not ask me how much they cost. You will find me stupid to pay so much for just a tee. *Phoebe trying to justify herself in a weak voice... "But it's Juicy Couture you know and the flagship store in Singapore will only be opened early next year, 2009." >.<

Oh, and I bought a pair of Tiffany earrings too to add on to my collection of Tiffany accessories. I did not know that sending in for polishing is FOC in KL for in Singapore, they charge you S$10 for every silver item you send in for polishing. Those blood suckers!~ Anway, when I found out this piece of good news it wasn't any good news to me anymore for it was my last night in KL. I happened to be wearing a pair of earrings, necklace and bracelet from Tiffany for this trip but oh well... I guess just my luck.

The best has yet to come. The biggest and worst damage is none other than... ... um... ... my Cartier watch. Yup! You didn't read wrongly. Cartier!!! I have already owned one but greedy me not contented to own just 1 Cartier watch but must own 2? That watch costs me about S$6800. Gulp!~