Day 1: 21st Dec
Well, i have been too lazy to continue the Nepal post and since it has been so long ago, i shall continue to the next event that happened during the holidays. On the 21st, my family and I, went on a cruise to Phuket and back. We sailed on the Rhapsody of the Sea from Royal Caribbean International. The ship was huge!! Anyway, was shocked to see my uncles, aunties and grandparents there. My cousins were also on-board. On the first day, we only got on the ship around 7pm cause of all the long immigration and stuff. Super irritating. We first had to go to Suntec to check in and get our keys. Then we were brought by bus to Pasir Pangang port to board the ship as the ship was too tall to enter the bay to dock at Singapore Cruise Centre. When we first got onboard the ship and went to our rooms, me, my sister and brother settled in before going for an early dinner. After the meal, we went around the ship exploring it and everything. Fr Romeo, the priest who got a free room so that he could give Mass on-board the ship told me that there would be morning Mass on Sunday. Went to watch a show. It was rather interesting. There were some Brazilian guys playing around with whips and drums! Went to sleep at about 1am cause we were exploring the ship.
Day 2: 22nd Dec
Woke up around 9am. Had breakfast and then went to rest in the room for a while before going to the gym with my dad. After that me, my brother and sister went rock climbing with my cousins on the rock wall on-board the ship. We then went to Port Kelang to eat some stuff. When we got back, me and my dad went to the solarium, the indoor swimming pool, to relax and went to the jacuzzi. Nice and relaxing. I had ice cream there. Ate a total of 3 ice creams that day. After that, we went to get dressed for dinner. Fr Romeo joined us for dinner. After dinner, my cousins bought us Ben and Jerry's. Watched the show that night. It was a musical about country. Not a very bad show. We then walked around for a while before turning in for the night.
Day 3: 23rd Dec
My alarm rang 3 times only to be snoozed by me. Then, 5 minutes later, the phone rang. My brother had to hit me to wake me up to go pick it up. It was Fr Romeo. I had to serve morning Mass. Just as i was going to go to the toilet, the phone rang again. This time it was the wake up call. Then, just as i was going to the toilet again, the phone rang a third time. It was my mum. Waking me up. I then went to have a shower before taking my cassock and going to the bar where Mass would be held. Waited for about 15 minutes, set up the altar and stuff. Found out there was no Chalice so Fr asked for a wine glass. The turn up at the mass wasn't too bad. I think. Considering the fact that it was a Sunday morning on-board a ship... After Mass, went for breakfast. Had eggs benedict, poached eggs on muffins with hollandaise sauce smothered all over it...Yum!! After that, rested for a while before going off shore to Penang. Was surprised to meet my Uncle there. He apparently flew to Penang the day before. We walked around and stopped at a shopping centre cause my hands were swelling up. Must be the Malaysian air! Lol. Or i am just allergic to something. Had lunch and coffee at some outdoor place before taking a half-an-hour walk back to the ferry terminal to tender back to the ship. I then went to the jacuzzi with my dad and uncle. After that, we went to rest before getting ready for the Captain's cocktail reception. For this occasion, we had to wear formal. So i wore a suit, tie and long sleeve with black pants and shoes. My grandparents were surprised at how mature i looked in a suit. I think i looked good. I nearly got some champagne but the waiter saw through my disguise and i ended up with a fruit punch. Drank some of my dad's though. After that was dinner. Good meal. Went to watch some magic show after that. Sat with Fr Romeo at the balcony. He wasn't really impressed at the act though. It was a good show nonetheless... Slept early as i was tired.
Day 4: 24th Dec
Woke up at 7.45am this morning. Had to do so as we had a snorkeling trip later that morning. We had breakfast before going up to the meeting place. We took a tender out of the ship and to Phuket island. We then boarded a bus to bring us somewhere else. I did not pay attention as i fell asleep on the bus. When we finally got to the other ferry terminal, we took a ferry to Phi Phi island to swim for a while. Did not go into the water there as did not want to get wet before the real snorkeling started. After about 20 minutes on the beach, we left on the boat to see some landforms. Mr Z would like that. After that, we went to some place in the middle of the sea to snorkel. Saw many nice things. From beautiful corals to nasty sea urchins. It was beautiful overall. Wished i brought a waterproof camera. After about 20 minutes, we headed off to another island to for lunch. There, i had egg and a lot of bread. After lunch, we went to another island to snorkel for 1 hour. After that, it was the end of the trip. We went back to our first checkpoint before taking a bus to the main terminal to tender back to the ship. When finally on the ship, i went to rest before dinner. Watched the before dinner show as there would be Mass at 11.45pm that night. The show was another musical about ballroom dancing. Rather boring i must say. After that, headed for dinner. After dinner, went back to my cabin to rest a while before collecting my cassock and meeting Fr at the theatre to prepare for Mass. As the chalice was missing, Fr asked for the container used to serve ice cream as one. And since there was no sacramental wine, Fr was give Merlot, a red wine. Mass went smoothly. The "choir" wasn't really too good but the attendance for the mass wasn't bad. After Mass, was suppose to follow my cousins to have supper but i decided to turn in for the night as i had to serve Mass again the next morning and i was really tired. So i went back to sleep.
Day 5 &6: 25th and 26th Dec
Woke up at 9.45am!! Mass was at 8am! I woke up late. Was so tired still though. Found out from my brother that they played monopoly last night until 3am. Damn, i should have stayed up. Anyway, went for breakfast then rested. Climbed the rock wall again. Conquered it with no difficulty whatsoever. After that, went to the gym for a short workout before returning to the cabin. I was feeling a little lousy after lunch so i stayed in the room as my family went to play bingo. After bingo was dinner. I went for dinner, sat down, ordered my food, ate a piece of bread then found out that i couldn't really finish it. So i went to the room and rested. After a short nap and a 10-minute shower, i felt better. Well enough to watch the Christmas show and play monopoly. I also learnt how to play bridge! We played until 3.30am then went to sleep. Only to wake up 3 hours later for breakfast. After that, we waited for about 2 hours on the pool deck to disembark the ship. It was so sad. Leaving the nice ship, the lap of luxury. So that kind of rounds up my family vacation this holiday. It was fun and i really enjoyed it a lot.
Saturday, December 29
~Ivor~ Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 17
~Ivor~
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Just got back from Nepal yesterday morning. Will blog about the highlights of the day and add pictures in at the end of the post.
Day 1:
Got up early and went to the airport. Took a plane to Bangkok and subsequently to Nepal. When we arrived at the hotel, i was rather happy to see that it had a TV and it showed channels like HBO and Star Movies. Had a good dinner.
Day 2:
Got up even earlier this time. Caught a plane to Lukla from which we would trek to Phakding. The view from the plane was magnificent. Saw the entire Himalayas from there. It was rather windy when we arrived in Lukla. Had lunch at a lodge before trekking for about 3 hours to Phakding. When we arrived there, we had dinner then went to bed. Shaun got sick on that day.
Day 3:
Woke up many times in the night. When it finally was time to wake up, i had to use cold water to do so. I had a good breakfast before starting the 5-6 hour trek to Namche. We first had to go downhill then uphill. Nmache wasn at the altitude of 3445 metres. So we trekked and trekked until we reached this open ground with a small stream. There, we had tea. Cookies and hot tang. It was excellent. Just as we were having tea, it started snowing. At first we thought it was rain but found out that it was snow in the end. We took a few mintues to take in the wonderful spectacle before continuing to eat our food. After about half an hour, the first group, set of to tackle the uphill part of the trek. We would climb up a total height of 400m. By the way, the first group consists of me, Sgaun, Bryan, Caleb and Clare. We also had a guide, whose name is Sham. A very friendly guy. So we started our uphill hike. It was exhausting that we had to stop after every 7-8 mins of walking. When we finally reached Namche, we were totally exhausted, cold and wet from the snow. By the time we reached Namche, the snow had become into a blizzard. Everything was covered in snow. We were relieved as the heater in the dining room of the lodge was on.
Day 4:
We woke up in the morning and went to a museum from which we could see Everest. There, we also played with snow. We then trekked to Paronoma Hotel up in a mountain to rest for a while and to see Everest even closer. After that, we trekked down to our lodge in Namche again. Nicole got injured on this day also. She fell and injured her leg.
Will pause here for a while. Getting tired. Will continue tmr.
Wednesday, December 12
~Ivor~