(Continued...Part 2)

Lying in the decks of the Royal Carribean...ultimate luxury, knowing that there's nothing waiting for you to do, and having just the peace of mind to laze in the sun.

me & wei lin (acting cool *chuckles*)

sleepy shu min dozed off on the chairs while claire cheekily puts on a pair of shades for her.

another pair of sleepyheads.

dinner time at the Romeo & Juilet Restaurant.

The service on the Royal Carribean was indeed remarkable. The waiters and waitresses made every effort to remember the names/faces of the customers and was super attentive to all our needs. They were at our every beck and call and even after meals, they came up with IQ puzzles for us to solve using the mere items on the restaurant table.

It was in one word...

amazing.

and i have to give most of the credits to our assigned assistant waiter - Joel from the Philippines who was very helpful and entertaining.

Examples of some of the table puzzles we are put to the test with:-

1st puzzle

Move 1 of the toothpicks in order to create 4 triangles.

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.

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.

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haha. We'd managed to solve this thanks to Yan Rong who'd seen the puzzle before.

2nd puzzle

Move 2 toothpicks such that the ball would then lay outside the cup.

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we'd manage to solve this too with the help of Shu Min :)

Joel was complaining we were too smart by then...lol.

that was when he gave us the final and most challenging puzzle...

3rd puzzle

How do you lift the structure below with only 1 straw ( the structure has to retain it's shape even as it is lifted above the table)?

we'd failed...utterly. The solution is to hold a straw horizontally behind the structure and blow the structure onto the horizontal straw such that the structure overturns and you are able to lift it up. I can't explain it in words. You have to see it to comprehend what i mean.

 The solution comes with practice.

Hence, even after he demonstrated the solution to us, we never managed to do it...it was just impossible.

Stella with our assistant waiter, Joel.

"Live" performance on board the cruise

The library

Arriving at Penang on the second day of the cruise

Visiting the coffee boutique

Penang white coffee - really good and tad pricey too (30MYR for just 15 sachets)

(To be continued....Part 3)

sailing on the royal carribean

6 June - 9 June 2012

this is the second time ever stepping on board a cruise.

always had the impression that there's absolutely nothing much to do on cruises, except for eating and sleeping and well...for the married couples, making babies?

and well, after the trip on the royal carribean...i've gathered that...while the main point of cruises remains the buffet spreads...there's actually much much more activities available for people who are opting for a cruise holiday.

royal carribean offers a wide selection of activities ranging from rock climbing, min golf, magic shows, dance performances, movie screenings, casinos, jacuzzi, gym with a sea view, running track with a sea view, table tennis with a sea view....lol.

and i am not even paid to advertise for them >.<

stella and i taking a zi lain shot in our cabin. not as small as i had expected, it was good, felt almost like a normal hotel bedroom!

the deck on level 9. gorgeous pool with 2 jacuzzis under the clear blue skies :)

windjammers dining hall. buffet all day round.

i'm not much of a foodie and i actually hate buffets cause it doesn't make sense to force feed myself just to make my money's worth. it's what i call exponential diminishing marginal utility of food. 

claire, shu min and me.

showing off our muscle power at the gym :P

indoor pool

fools balls

at the mustering session. 

now i know how important it is to learn where the emergency exits are, how to put on the lifejackets on and what to do in times of emergencies. back during the trip, we all took the safety instructions for granted, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to all instructions related to the mere word "safety". 

However, you really never know what could happen...

Look at Costa Concordia, the French luxury cruise liner...the mere misjudgment of the ship captain could cause an entire luxury liner housing 4,200 passengers and crew to hit the rocks off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio and almost sink.

the adorable juniors - shu min & stella

we were learning some line dance. quite entertaining.

posing with the rock climbing which i tried and.... failed :(

apparently there's a certain technique to rock climbing: 80% legs, 20% arm strength.

but really, it felt like 99.999% arm strength and 0.0001% leg strength.

and obviously, i don't have much arm power...

barely made it through half the wall >.<

(to be continued...)