Superstar Libra (Day 1 - 11/12/08)  

Posted by Daniel^_^Chin

*This post is loooooooong o.O

Started our journey from Teluk Intan to Port Klang at around 8.00 am(we had to check-in at 12). Ate our breakfast in a coffee-shop before we continued the journey. 
  
On the way!!!

Reached West Port, Port Klang earlier than we've expected (thanks to the maps, and no thanks to the unsurprisingly bad Malaysian road signs). 

Terminal Star Cruises

Saw the ship when we arrived and thought it was huge because of the distance.
 
Wow, that's huge!!

But apparently we were wrong. After obtaining our cruise access cards (which act as our ICs, cabin keys, and credit cards on the ship), we proceeded to the port. When we looked at the ship up close, the third largest ship under the company wasn't that huge actually :S

Err, fishing boat? :P


Not to compare it to Titanic, but it does look small from here...


Gotta identify the small boats up there and run towards them as soon as you hear the siren! 

Everyone had to take a picture with a mascot and a pair of weirdly dressed dancers before boarding the ship.

Photos, key chains, and fridge magnets up for sale that my sis took (Shh...we were not allowed...). I did not buy any because one photo costed 12 SGD (Singapore Dollar!!! Current exchange rate: 2.4) and one tiny key chain and fridge magnet were 10 SGD each! By the way, everything on the ship was in SGD, so imagine what could I buy...=.=. 

My elder sister thinks the mascot is a chicky, my second sister thinks it's a duck, and I think it's a bird. What do you think?

Straight away went to our cabins after boarding the ship. They were located at Deck 2, one for my parents and one for us. Oh my word, Deck 2?!!! My first reaction was:

"We are the first to die when the ship sinks!"

Not that I didn't know where we were sleeping already. But still, I couldn't help but bitch a little :P. You have no choice but to pay the price right? I mean, you've gotta pay the big "price" when you only paid a small price right? (Does this make sense to you?)

Room 2116


Weird picture on the wall


Amy checking out the hairdryer


Small TV on the shelves

Looked at the Star Navigator that we have to see what activities we could join. But before that, we had to check their food first. There are three inclusive restaurants: Four Seasons(western fine dining), Ocean Palace(chinese cuisine), and Mariners Buffet(international buffet), each has a different theme for dinner everyday. 

We chose the Mariner's Buffet first and made our way to the rear of the ship. There were two entrances, one at the far left and the other at the far right. Since we came from the left side so it was natural to enter from the left entrance. I saw a huge word "EXIT" on the door and my dysfunctioning brain thought it was an alien word. Therefore, the whole family entered the restaurant from the EXIT and proceeded to the plates and cutlery, all the while shaking our butts and thought nothing was wrong. Fortunately(thank God), we were lining up beside the entrance and saw people queuing outside to get their cards swiped before entering the restaurant. It was only then that we realised we entered without swiping out cards, and feeling rather embarrassed, we quickly exited and came back from the entrance.

Everything went smoothly after that and we got our first ever meal on the cruise. Not many choices actually and the food wasn't really good. Can't recall the exact food but there were rice, chicken, vegetables, fruits, desserts like cakes and drinks like coffee, tea, and orange juice as always.


My food (didn't finish it)

Me and my sis "enjoying" the food

During the lunch, we saw Superstar Virgo coming to the port and it was huge! It's the biggest ship under the company.


Superstar Virgo (Why is it Virgo not Sagittarius?)

After the lunch, time to check our navigator! (I like how they called it navigator, so...piraty, or sailory) There were a ship tour and a Christmas Jumbled Words at 2.00 pm, but frankly I could explore the whole ship myself in 15 minutes, therefore off we went to the Galaxy of the Stars.

The name of the game says it all(isn't it obvious?). The host, Godie from the Philippines would show us a card with scrambled letters and we were supposed to unscramble them to form a word related to Christmas in a 10 seconds. There were a total of 15 words to be figured out such as christmas tree, candies, Santa Claus, reindeer, The Three Kings, Bethlehem, mistletoe etc. Five of us shared a piece of answer sheet,  sadly we only managed to complete 10 words. In other words, we lost :(.

But the price wasn't good so I didn't care. After that, we had basic ballroom dance class with coordinator Douglas all the way from Brazil! (Woot, ballroom dancing! :D) Me, my father and my sisters all went up. My mum sat back to take pictures. And seriously, my camera was turning into a bitch, time to change a new one I shall say!

Galaxy of the Stars

 Stage of Galaxy of the Stars

I like the way they arrange the chairs and couches

Move your hips!


Overall it was a fun lesson, after that we were required to couple up, and it was more fun! We had to twist and turn all the while having to avoid stepping on others' toes. After that Douglas told us there'll be a intermediate class tomorrow so we had to practice!

After that, there was a Cruise Variety Show at 4.00pm. Since it's a variety show, there were many different kinds of performances like singing, dancing, and even funny acts from the wacky performers.

When the show began, the ship started to sail too. After the variety show, my sisters went to the deck to take pictures and I went back to the cabin with a board game that I borrowed. Unfortunately nobody wanted to play it so we bathed and prepared for dinner.  


We chose to go to Four Seasons, the western fine dining restaurant and of course, they have dress code =.=.



THEME: EAST MEET WEST

Dinner Menu

Appetizer

Grilled Chicken Salad
Thai style salad with mesclun lettuce

or

Garden Greens
mixed lettuce with choice of dressings: Thousand Island, Balsamic or French Dressing



Soup

Lamb Broth
Asian style soup with cumin and coriander

or

Cream of Asparagus




Main Course

Grilled Chicken Breast
served with lemon grass peanut sauce and raisin rice

or

Dory Teriyaki
oven baked teriyaki dory fillet with roasted potato and sautéed mixed vegetables

or

Spaghetti Bolognese
pasta in thick rich meat sauce

or

Pizza Al Fungi
mushroom pizza with double cheese



Dessert

Mandarin Bavaroise

or

Choices of Ice Cream
Vanilla, Strawberry or Chocolate

*If you don't see any pictures for certain food above, that's because nobody ordered them

Everybody ordered Grilled Chicken Salad because it sounded nice, and in fact, it was quite nice (8/10). My Lamb Broth wasn't bad (7.5/10), so was my mum's Cream of Asparagus (6.5/10). Dory Teriyaki (5.5/10) was okay but my sister's Grilled Chicken Breast (7.5/10) was better. I didn't really like Mandarin Bavoroise (5/10), and the ice-cream was no Ben & Jerry's or HäagenDazs (I kinda thought it was Nestlé's).

Overall I give the dinner a 7.5 out of 10 :), at least it was better than the lunch. But the service wasn't really good. (Well, I'm picky :P)

After dinner, it's party time!!! There's something called Call My Bluff at 9.15 pm. Basically it's like a game show. There are four liars in the Liar's Club: Hendrix, Godie, Herel, and Hari, and they are the crazy cruise staffs. A rare word would be given, and these liars had to give their own definitions of the word, only one would be correct. Four people from the audience would be chosen to participate and they had to decide who was telling the truth.

First word - Crapulence (The thing that crossed my mind was this word is a whole lotta crap!)
Definition - A sickness caused by excessive drinking or eating (And I was like, "Isn't that flatulence?" Lol!)

Anyway, these liars had their own style in giving crap, Hendrix (draped in christmas light bulbs and wearing devil's horns) is good at giving dictionary styled definition that could be mistaken as the truth. Godie was always talking about his girlfriend and his likes to find out the definition by determining the root word (Therefore crapulence means a person full of crap =.=). Herel has many ex-boyfriends all around the world, and claimed that she just loves men. And Hari is a grand-mamma's boy, and he learned all the words from his grandmother, who always tells the truth.

Second word - Tittup
Definition - A lively, capering manner of moving or walking; a prance, this word comes from the imitation of the sound of horse hooves.

Third word - Blenophobia

They wanted singles to go up, and of course, no adults in their right minds would admit they are single. So all four teens went up, including me =.=".

The correct definition was supposedly "The fear of slime", and I got it wrong because it chose Hari's answer, which was the fear of mother-in-laws (Pantheraphobia)

Here's where things got tricky...

You see, the correct answer was "The fear of slime", or that's what everyone ass-u-me-d. I went online to check, and BOOM! Blenophobia(or belonephobia) is the fear of pins and needles, and the peer(can't resists to use some Philipino slang :P) of slime is BleNNophobia! Wow, tricky isn't it?

A blurry pic as prove (how good a proof is it =.=") Although it's blocked, you can make out that the letter before 'n' was actually an 'e'(can't be another 'n'), and the letter they were showing was 'Blenophobia'

Okay enough of Sherlock Holmes! 

Fourth word - can't remember! =.="
Definition - A slap by the bishop during confirmation ceremony.

People start guessing, and you might get prizes! Post a comment if you know.

Final word - Dynomania (Hmm...my favourite word among them)
Definition - a sudden urge to dance (An the crazy Hari started dancing Bhangra)

Although at first I thought it was "crazy over throwing explosives into fire", or something like that. (That'd probably be Dynamania instead)

After this game show we had another party called "Hollywood to Bollywood", were the audience were asked to go on stage and dance. Some of them were really funny and it was fun to watch.

This post is so long I hope it doesn't bore you guys.

That's pretty much day 1! Stay tune for the next day!

And please forgive the fact that I took a week to complete a day (blogging I mean).  



Ahoy Matey!  

Posted by Daniel^_^Chin

I'm back from the sea! And I'm gonna blog it all out!


Just got back today (yesterday I mean) and I'm so tired.

There will be lots of words and pics.

I'm using my blog as a personal journal to record my vacations, therefore the posts are gonna be very very detailed (if I can remember).

You are welcomed to skip any boring parts as you please.

Gotta sleep first, bye!  

Green Christmas  

Posted by Daniel^_^Chin

Let's not forget about our dear Earth this festive season!


Every year, Christmas always has a huge impact on the environment. Tons of gift-wrappers, paper plates, Christmas cards, presents are produced in huge quantity to cater to people celebrating the joyous day all around the world. 

Having said that, let's have a Green Christmas this year! An environmental friendly Christmas that has less impact on the Earth. Here are a few tips that will help save the planet while at the same time making Christmas more fun-filled. 


1. Eco-friendly Christmas Cards

If one person gives out 10 cards, imagine how many trees were chopped for the entire community that celebrates Christmas. Get your creative juices flow by making your own cards. For younger kids, shows like Art Attack offer lots of advice on how to make cards and decorations. Replace the materials with recycled papers and pictures cut out from magazines or newspapers. Pressed flowers and leaves are perfect for decorating the cards. Last year's Christmas cards can also be recycled into new cards, but make sure that the senders never find out. By making your own cards, no plastic wrappers will be used, no transportation involved, and it's cheaper, considering the economy now.

If you are busy, save time and money by sending out e-cards. Free e-cards can be found easily on the net. If you prefer sticking to the tradition of sending out real Christmas cards, and wouldn't mind spending some money, buy Christmas cards made out of recycled materials.  


2. Green Gifts

There are lots of green gifts that can be found everywhere. Take some time to browse on sites like e-bay, or go Christmas shopping at shops that sells Eco-friendly goods, and you might find many interesting gifts for your friends and family. Certain products made out of alternative materials that are easier to produce such as bamboo instead of wood are definitely great choices. T-Shirts that send out green messages and are eco-friendly themselves make the top of the list for sure. Here is a great blog entry that features several shoe brands that sell environmental friendly foot-gloves.

To avoid sending out presents that eventually end up as rubbish, ask your recipients what they like to receive. Gift vouchers are safe choices as they can buy anything they want. Make a wish-list yourself if possible. If you receive anything that you don't want or don't need, smile because you know that you will be spending less next Christmas and secretly wish that your next recipient will like what you have received.

Use magazine pages or other unused papers as gift wrappers. Beautiful chocolate or candy wrappers can be used to decorate the surfaces. I am sure the recipients will be delighted to receive gifts that help save the environment.


Chocolate wrappers are perfect as alternative to shiny papers


3. Think about the Earth when you shop

This is the part where I go all particular and act like your typical granny. For the mums and grannies, it's time to go shopping for groceries and ingredients for Christmas dinner. To save fuel, car pooling with other mums is the best option as it also reduces pollution and provides a good opportunity for some mamma-bonding. 

Besides that, buying in large quantities could help save money too. The market guy would be all too happy to propose a 'buy 2 turkeys free 1 chicken foot' or something like that. Buy organic ingredients that are more healthy. Say no to all things artificial!

One crucial item that a green mum should never forget to bring is reusable shopping bag or basket. Certain stores like Tesco or Cold Storage sell shopping bags that you can bring everyti
me you shop. These shopping bags help eliminate the need of plastic bags. Bio-degradable or not, plastic bags are plain fugly. 



Shopping for groceries is not longer Ugly Betty's job anymore with these fashionable shopping totes!

4. Decorate greenly

I'm not asking you to turn your house into a jungle, or a hideous pile of green things jumbled up together. Showoff your kids' talent by asking them to decorate the house with available materials. One thing to note if your are living in a place that don't snow during Christmas - even though how much Christmas is often associated with snow and snowman, try to convince your children not to scatter ice or snow they gathered from the refrigerator. Use fake Christmas trees that can be reused ever year. If possible, try making all the ornaments for the Christmas tree yourself (besides the light bulbs, unless you want to go all crazy and catch fireflies). Energy saving light bulbs provide suitable lighting while at the same time save energy for your house.


5. Party with nature

If you are used to buy paper plates and cups, plastic forks and spoon, or worst, polystyrene cups and plates, do NOT repeat that for this Christmas! These party dishes and cutlery are harmful to the environment and they are disposable, which means they are rubbish, and rubbish or wastes do no good to the environment. Instead, prepare reusable cups, plates and cutlery that can be washed for more helpings. Use real napkins instead of paper serviettes. Lastly, use environmental friendly detergent to wash the dishes. If you have the time and effort, it is best to make your own garbage enzyme

It's a long way to save the planet but if everybody contribute a little during this festive season, I am sure that the Earth will be happier. 

Wish everybody a Merry 'Green' Christmas and a Happy New 'Green' Year!!!

Gaudi lost his key???  

Posted by Daniel^_^Chin

This is not a book review

Anyone heard of this new book called The Gaudi Key


Sounds like The Da Vinci Code ain't it??? 

When I first saw the book in a newspaper a few days ago, I thought perhaps I should give it a read. So I went searching for it but apparently Malaysian bookstores aren't that up-to-date. 

All I saw was Twilight everywhere, how annoying! Just kidding :P.

Anyway, I came back and decided to read some online reviews. Unfortunately, not even one of the reviews I've read was able convince me to buy that book. They all mentioned about how bad the book was. From what I've read, the way the author delivers the story-line is bad. A book with bad writing paired with puzzling puzzles and boring characters doesn't sound like a good read to me. 

And they even compared the book to The Da Vinci Code. The result was that Gaudi can't be compared to Da Vinci. Seriously, I have never laid my eyes on the incredibly controversial book by Mr Brown. I even had to force myself to finish the boring movie. If The Gaudi Key is worst that that book, I won't care to touch it.

If you're wondering who's Gaudi, he was an architect. And his famous cathedral La Sagrada Familia can be seen on the book cover (Lots of choices to learn more about the building here). This book talks about the mystery that revolves around the architect's death and Christianity at that time. 

Pretty interesting theme for me but unfortunately I'm not buying it. Or should I buy the book and give it a try, since I'm not a person who often listens to other's opinion.

Maybe someone should read it first and tell me whether it's worth the bucks. I'm so evil.


R.I.P Joern Utzon  

Posted by Daniel^_^Chin

Shocking news (not exactly news anymore, more like "olds")!

The architect that designed the famous Sydney Opera House, Joern/Jørn Utzon (1918-2998) has died, at the age of 90.

If you happen to be living in a cave for your entire life, THIS is what I'm talking about---->

Some people think its ugly, some people think its special.

Orange wedges, shark fins, yacht sails, crocodile teeth, shells, claws, beaks, whatever you imagine it looking like...one can't deny it's one of the greatest designs mankind has achieved. It went through a lot of challenges one could not have imagined. There's a sad story behind the construction of this building, where poor Joern resigned as the chief architect. Imagine not being recognised as the architect of your own design. How sad.

He gave Australia its most iconic and significant building but yet he was involved in a political scandal.

Read more about his death and what happened almost half a century ago in his obituary and here. You can always find out more on the building by goggling. Watch his tribute video here.

Dying at the age of 90 is a blessing. One of my favourite architects, I.M.Pei, is 91 years old now. If only all architects could live that long.

Simplicity vs Complexity  

Posted by Daniel^_^Chin

Simple things and Complicated things,

Which do you prefer?

Simple things can be boring, bland, empty, less...but are they shallow?

Simple things can also be pure, straightforward, unpretentious, appreciated, and certainly deep for enough for one to ponder.

Complex things are interesting, wild, imaginative, eye-catching, inspiring, brilliant and amazing!

But they could be too much, over-the-top, messy, undisciplined, awful, fake, and far away...yes, far from our reach.

Sometimes human are simple creatures by nature, made complex by their own complicated minds.

Yes, we complicate ourselves, and we sometimes contradict our own thoughts, which made them worst.

Had you been thinking things that you found out weren't true?

Misunderstood lately?

Conflicting yourselves sometimes?

Confused by your friends?

Made things worst than they should have been?

Well, then you are the one making your life hard.


Back to reality...:P

I have learned in my Culture 101 class on several design theories. Among those, a few themes like Pop, Restraint, and Phenomenal made me think a lot. Because they are less direct, I suppose.

In fact, I found out that these themes are actually related to each other.

Okay, Pop sounds easy and direct enough: pop music, pop art, anything popular and recognisable.

But after reading the Reader, which is a compilation of very complicated articles(I have to say). I found out the topic Complexity and Contradiction vs Simplicity or Picturesqueness worth reading and thought-provoking. And somehow it is related to-

Restraint: Minimum, Disciplined, Less is More!

"Less is More!" -Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), German architect, and leader of modern International Style.


HOLD IT! You'd say...you relate this to architecture? It didn't even sound like that in the beginning!

Well, if you've read my blog before, you know that I relate everything to everything. I mean, don't even get me started on something that I can relate to anything and everything.


Sometimes people do look at things complicatedly. Like a piece of abstract art, somehow people can pull off 1000 different views and opinion like the artist was so good at making riddles for them to solve.

I mean, yes, Leonardo was feeling sad and all. If you can feel his sorrow, fine, I felt too...the way the colours are so dull, the broken vase, the dim lighting, the moody cat...

I was chatting with Chris recently and we were talking about these mad people that are busy scrutinising, calculating(yes, calculate), and even measuring famous arts.

Wow, I know artists are geniuses, but can you expect each and everyone to develop their brains equally like Mr Vinci there? (In case you don't know he's good at science too o.O)

When you paint do you measure the length of your strokes? Or even check how does it look like under the UV light? Or would you meticulously hide secrets below the canvas like its a vault of the greatest secrets in the history of secrets?

But that's what they did with poor smiling lady, and the one famous supper and other artworks. If only those people devote their time to my scribbles, who knows it might reveal the greatest secret of mankind.

But the book on certain Code still draws people in.

Why can't art be appreciated the way it is? Why can't paintings be just beautiful, inspiring, and relaxing to the mind?

Why can't art be simple, and yet picturesque?

"You don't know about art little child!" bellowed the crazy art fanatic "Stop giving your unworthy thoughts and fill your filthy mind with milk!" "The minds of those great artists are not yours to imagine and understand!"

Okay...so why not start at the start of time? Why did human paint at the first place? To record things? Oh I get it! That's how you got the idea!!! *clap clap clap*

Wow, I've reached fine art in my long chain of Relation!!!

This is a lengthy post, so I'll come back with a Part 2

More "relatings" to behold!!! My English is getting weirder...o.O


Images courtesy of http://www.jokesduniya.com/674/monalisa-on-world-tour/


Wait!!! Wasn't Mona Lisa a MAN??? *running away screaming*