Monday, April 27, 2015

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Cruising (;

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¡ Brace yourself ¡

This is going to be an extremely long entry filled with lengthy descriptions, and plenty of pictures from my 12 nights vacation onboard Voyager of the Seas to Tokyo X. :D

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In case one full entry is too burdensome to finish reading in one shot, here's ma breakdown. :D

Cruising from Singapore to Tokyo!!

The one-day stops:
Touring Nha Trang
Shopping in Hong Kong
Eating, and eating, and shoe shopping in Taiwan
Samuraaaaaaai-ed in Nagasaki
One night in Tokyo

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SO! I am finally back from a very relaxing (and a little choppy) 13-day vacation........

It has been a really good holiday!! Mostly, just relaxing onboard (in the steam room, jacuzzi and pool!), eating good food, playing mahjong, watching the night shows, karaoke sessions/competition and movies, and allowing myself to think about nothing but what to eat and where to relax next. Heh. (This will also explain why there not many pictures of us onboard later)

There are of course quite a handful of time where we had to move a lot and exhaust ourselves too. &That's during the 6 days we were on steady land, exploring our port of calls! It's like... 1 day to chiong, 1 day to nua for recovery and then... REPEAT!! LOL. We also ate a lot throughout this trip... And by a lot, I mean you shouldn't continue the entry if you're hungry. xD

Our first time on Voyager of the Seas. Same grade as Mariner of the Seas X (similar concept and all), but Voyager is newly furbished and has slightly more (maybe better?) facilities. There was a mini golf course and the Flow Rider (Wave House equivalent in Sentosa). ALL THESE FOR FREE OKAY! :D

> Our previous trip on-board Mariner of the Seas <

Well, not exactly free 'free'.. The cost for use of these facilities have already been included in our package. Which is.... around $2500. Before you scream that it's expensive, this includes: a normal state room during the 11 cruise nights, fooooood, use of majority (98%) of the facilities on-board, a day-tour around Tokyo, a night stay in Tokyo PLUS the flight back to Singapore. Quite a good deal, isn't it? A different kind of holiday that not everyone would enjoy... Lol.



Anyway........ Back back back, with pictures now.

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♒ SEA DAY 1 ♒

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SO MANY LUGGAGE!!!

I am glad we didn't go on-board early in the morning this time. We always go extra early to check out the cruise when we go on shorter trips. But since we were going to be traveling for more than 5 days this time, we managed to persuade our mother to check-in a little later. Lol. On this very same day, another cruise was departing too! The Princess X.

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Excited faces, finally onboarded!

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Lunch first!
Didn't head straight into our room since we already know what it'll look like.
We hung around and checked out the cruise before the arrival of our luggages.

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Tadaaaaah~~

Cozy cabin room for the next 11 nights!
The room we spent quite a bit of time in, and where I watched a lot of movies.
So happy I could catch up with a few.

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Camwhore after we washed up while waiting for le parents to be ready.
Was also waiting for the mandatory drill to begin, since nothing else will be opened when the cruise is docked.

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Tripod made photo taking SO SIMPLE!!
Going to bring it for my many trips to come now. :D

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SELFIE!

&Here's the inside of Voyager of the Seas!

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Shopping Arcade! Mostly luxury brands. Also the place where sales are held.
Also where the Customer Service is located. There's also a snack bar and bar along the stretch.

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The second day would have these decorations up too!
The same as Mariner of the Seas, they had this Dream Works parade X
Sis and I didn't manage to catch it this time though. Too crowded, too short. >:(

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The other end of the Shopping Arcade.
First few things we did when the cruise set sail was to queue at the Customer Service counter for travel adapter.
Thought I was well prepared for the trip, but end up buying the wrong kind of adapter. -.-
TSK!

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The 2 storey theatre area.

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Inside, on the second level.
We spend quite a bit of time here too...
Watched "Guardians of the Galaxy" 3D, a magic show, production shows and also the Karaoke competition!

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Rock Climbing Wall.
This trip was definitely a good opportunity for us to enjoy these facilities, considering the length of our stay.
But we didn't. =,=
I AM SO GOING TO CLIMB THAT WALL NEXT TIME!

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This is damn cool.
The simulated surfing.
Which, of course, we didn't try too. =.=

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Here's also where you'll get to check out the pretty handsome instructor. LOL.

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Mini Golf Course

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Hai. Looking back, I feel that my sis and I didn't maximize the facilities.
All we did was eat, spa, eat, watch shows, eat, swim, eat, jacuzzi and eat again. Lol.

Eat eat eat.

I AM SO GLAD I DID NOT PUT ON WEIGHT FROM ALL THE EATING THIS TRIP. Geez.

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The Casino!

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The outdoor pool.
(There are 10 pools & whirlpools onboard)

The pool water is really salty! So salty that it'll hurt your eye.
And it's not seawater salty. It tasted 10 times saltier than seawater!
Most people onboard don't swim though... They just soak in the water. :/

I swam the most when it was freezing cold!! So freaking cold that no one wanted to soak in it. LOL.
It was quite an experience.. To swim in ice cold water...
In fact, I think I enjoyed swimming in the cold most. Because there was no one in the pool at all.
People would occasionally look at me from their warm jacuzzi though. Probably thinking I'm crazy.

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One of the many bars.

Oh! Sis and I didn't purchase any of their drink packages this time!
Since we won't be onboard half the time, and could easily get any drinks we want from outside.

We did get the Wi-Fi package though. For long stays, they have special promotions!
Cheap cheap. Not.

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Pool area at night.
Very chilly from after Vietnam, and got extremely cold towards Nagasaki.

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Card Room.
The adults hung out here the most, playing mahjong.

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The Spa area!
I believe my sis and I showered here more than we did in our cabin's shower. Lol.
More spacious.

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The warm warm jacuzzi.
When it was too cold outside, we spend a bit more time in here.
&Behind the jacuzzi, you can see a whole stretch of treadmills and bicycles. The Gym!

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Soon enough, dinner time was here.
Meal time will seem to come very fast from now onwards because I didn't take many pictures of us just chilling.

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Best travel companion.
Love-hate, but I'm the most comfortable and unglam with her. ;)

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We were in the middle of the 3-storey dining area.

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Ordered this weird tasting soup.
Watermelon, raspberry, sour cream and pistachios.

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And dinner is served.
They'll always serve you bread when you're seated. Bread for when you're waiting for the food.
I love their bread. They let you choose, and we'll always pick the same one. Lol.

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Went for the first production show after dinner.

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Sudoku Challenge!

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"Enchanted" was on!!!
Love that movie.

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The first night ended with us roaming around. We discovered that the Arcade was on Free-mode!!!!
Played so much DDR that I think we sweat-ed all our food that day. Lol.
Unfortunately, these free games were only available on the first night. :(



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♒ SEA DAY 2 ♒

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Fast-food for breakfast!!! :D
Yugine highly recommended them, so there we went!
USD5.95 for a starter, burger/sandwich and dessert! Menu

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Nice retro place.
They also break into some dance every 30 minutes. Sometimes not looking very enthusiastic. Haha.

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Starters! Free flow some more.

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We ordered their Chili Beef fries too!

Of course, by the time we were done with the starters, we were already stuffed. Lol.

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The burgers!
Not fantastic though.

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Sister's chocolate sundae and my Strawberry milkshake. SO FREAKING THICK I LIKE.

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My apple crumble. VERY NICE.
Warm and thick slices of the apples.

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Our activity after lunch: Check out the highest deck and watch people surf.
There were opened for a while and a long queue quickly formed.
Every time you fall, you have to queue. And there will only be only surfer each time.
It was quite interesting, seeing how people actually improve after trying again and again.

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What the adults did for the rest of the afternoon...
And I cannot remember what I did. Lol.

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Formal night! :D

I..... liked our first formal night onboard Legend of the Seas X most.
Then, there were less locals and a lot more Westerners. Plenty of effort were put into their outfits for the night...
From our second cruise onwards, guests seem a lot more casual (great mix of Asians already).

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Dinner is served.
You see more plates than the 6 of us because you can order more than one serving!
And you can order more servings of any course of the meal!
Can't decide between 2 starters/mains/desserts? Order them all!!! Lol.
See, $2500 is not that expensive afterall. Lol.

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Here's mum and her supper.
I guess we didn't put on weight during this trip because we skipped a lot of carbohydrates and ate more meat instead. And had more meals. Lol.



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♒ PORT OF CALL 1: VIETNAM - NHA TRANG ♒

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While waiting for our tour number (22!) to be called.

Because of the language barrier and the docking location, we went with one of the cruise tours!
A brief tour around Nha Trang.

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Here's us on their small boats to the port!
Couldn't dock anywhere near the port because it was a little small.

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On the coach to our next location!

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Check out how the trees are trimmed! How is this possible?
I wondered if they were fake.

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TWIRLED TREES!!!
/easilyamused

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Some big marketplace
Not very interesting, so just...... view the pictures. Lol.
The weather was very hot by the way.

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Act artistic shot. ;P

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&We're off to the next location!

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Temple.

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The architecture of the temples were interesting
Looked a little like Hindu temples.

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Someone just had to photobomb.
We didn't go in though.... Was lazy to remove our shoes. LOL.

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These reminded me of Jeju Island's Dol hareubang X
:X

The weather was perfect for pictures!
Hot, but great lighting.

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I wonder what are those 'stands'for.

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Hai. Kind of hate how my camera isn't selfie smart.
Y CANNOT FOCUS ON EVERYONE??

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Another temple visit!

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Behind this dragon is a flight of steps to the temple.
I still didn't check it out but stayed outside because of my shoe situation. Lol.

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But, we had a pretty.... unpleasant experience while sincerely praying.

There was this group of Vietnamese crowding infront of the temple shoving incense sticks to people. I first thought it was such a nice thing to do, but very soon realise it was just one of their ways to make money. After one accepts the joss stick and offered to the God, these people would ask for money. Not sure if they said it was for donations though, but it definitely didn't seem like a donation drive. While sis and I stayed outside to watch, we also realise these people reuse all these incense sticks. Almost immediately after one puts their joss sticks into the urn, these people would pick it up again and pass it on to the next person.

There was even this lady who demanded requested for more money when my dad had given her $2. She said she has already told my dad the price for that half burnt incense stick. -,- It was rather frustrating.... The weather was hot, the entrance was smoke-y and crowded with people.... Having to witness this infront of a temple was...... I can only shake my head when I think about it.

Shortly after our parents entered the temple, this friendly guy approached me. Introduced himself, talked about his background as a student (he looks a little too adult to be a student...), asked about me and shared more about his school and classmates. Apparently, he's from an English school supported by the temple (he does speak fluent English) and is looking for kind people to donate to their school / temple. It wasn't a direct donation though.. He tried to... sell this booklet of postcards. I cannot recall the exact price, but I remember it wasn't cheap even in Singapore dollars. :/ Didn't stop pushing me to get it when I told him I didn't exchange any money to spend in Vietnam. He even waited for my parents to be done praying, and nudged me to ask them... Really...?

After the encounter, I felt a little sad for the people... He was speaking so well, and seemed quite educated to be spending his time in the temple chatting up with tourists. I'll give all these people the benefit of doubt though... That they were really helping the temple. :/

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Random shot of the street.

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This was the next stop. We didn't alight because we knew it'll be too artistic for our taste. ;)

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I FIND THIS STONE CREATURE SUPER CUTE!!
Can you spot it's eyes??

This was taken in their Aquarium. A little rustic and run down, it felt more like a.... normal shop selling fishes than an aquarium.

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All the dead creature species...
>&lt;

The stop at Nha Trang was rather short... Shortest port of call among the 5 stops. There weren't much to do though.
Headed back after our tour for dinner.

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Picture of the sampan girl. Lol.
Unfortunately, this hat didn't survive for too long a time.... lol. Even just being in our cabin, it was spoilt few days later.
Someone accidentally sat on it.

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Snaaacks!!
This was at 4ish.

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DINNER @ GIOVANNI'S TABLE!!!! :D

We've tried this place when we were onboard Mariner of the Seas previously.
My sister absolutely loved their Tiramisu and swore to have it again.

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The entrance.

USD15 cover charge for a 3 course meal.
A starter, main/pasta and dessert. Menu
Of course, these are not limited.

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A slightly cozier layout this time.

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Dinner date ♥

Only sis and I because the adults are less adventurous. Their taste buds crave for too much Chinese food. Lol.

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ツ FOOD SPAM!!! ツ

When we had our first experience with Giovanni's Table 2 years ago, we didn't know it was a 3 course meal and ordered one dish from EACH section of the menu. LOL.
We got really stuffed at the end of the meal and almost couldn't enjoy our dessert.
The tiramisu was too good though.

This time, we are aware.... BUT! We ordered from every section of the menu anyway. Lol.
Can't decide what's the dish you wanna eat most? ORDER ALL!!! :p

One starter. One soup. One entrée. One pasta. One dessert.
All for USD15. ;)

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Our starters.
Mine was extremely heavy because underneath the thin slices of salami were thick blocks of cheese. :O
Very tasty though. Have never had something so... heavy and light at the same time.

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We had the same soup.
THIS IS REALLY DELICIOUS!
So thick, so flavourful.

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Our pasta.
My sister's pasta seem to have used the soup we ordered as the sauce. Lol.
Mine sucked. Didn't finish half of it. Don't think I can ever appreciate the mushy taste of Gnocchi.

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THIS WAS SO CRAZY FILLING!!
The veal wraps around a generous amount of ham and cheese.
THERE'S EVEN A PILE OF MASHED POTATOES UNDERNEATH THAT.
I should have died a horrible death from all the fats consumed.

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My sister's!
She's definitely more strategic with her orders.
Smaller portion of starter and entrée. Tsk.

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Desserts!!!!!
I also had the Tiramisu this time.
No pictures because.... doesn't look appetising. Lol.



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♒ SEA DAY 4 ♒

No further pictures from after our great meal at Giovanni's Table because....... I think we went for shows and chilled more at the open space.
Or maybe we went to the stream room to sweat out all the food? Lol.

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Swollen face from all the good food.

And what's the first thing we did after walking up?
EAT GOOD FOOD AGAIN.

We arrived earlier than our reservation (yes, reservations are sometimes required).
So we......... hung out in the toilet first. LOL.

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PRETTIEST ONE IN THE CRUISE!
Overlooking the great blue sea and have prettier marbled floors.

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hehehehe.

We didn't have the opportunity to try this the last time.
Someone we met in our last trip recommended this to Giovanni's Table, so I told my sister we definitely have to try this place.
SO HAPPY WE DID!!!
It was so good, we went for a second visit with the family. :X

Slightly pricier at USD30. Menu.
It's not a good comparison to Giovanni's Table though. Since they serve different cuisine.
But, I will definitely choose Chops Grille over Giovanni's Table. :X
Unless I'm craving for Tiramisu. Chops Grille's desserts are so-so.

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A brighter environment with a stretch of tables facing the sea.

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This selfie defocus again. Tsk.
Only can take selfies when side by side meh.

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Got a little crazy and ordered a bottle of wine to share.
WE FINISHED IT. Lol. There was so much.

ツ FOOD SPAM!!! ツ

As usual, we didn't stick to ordering just enough. Lol.
I guess... we were just being a typical Singaporean, trying to maximize the price we paid.

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Caesar Salad.
Simple dish, but very well prepared. Tasted just right.

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Sister's scallops.
Very nice too! Onion bits weren't overpowering.

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Both had their mushroom soup and shared their shrimp cocktail.

That's a total of 3 appetizers + 2 soups for the 2 of us. ;)

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Looks small?

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FATTER THAN MY FAT FINGERS!!!
It taste best with the sauces given.

And.... here's our main dish...

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Sister's 6oz beef, and mine 12oz.
Yeah, a little too greedy BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.
Judge me all you want.

We could choose a variety of side dishes. Free Flow!
Didn't add any sauce for my beef because it was good enough on its own.

USD30 for all that.... JUST LOOK AT HOW THICK THE BEEF IS!!
Very value for money.

Next time, I'm going to order their fish. Seafood's slightly more expensive, right? Lol.

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The meh desserts. Lol.

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This is red velvet. Where's the red? :p

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It was such a good meal that I almost immediately went to the toilet. LOL.
Sorry.

This was the day I watched "Guardians of the Galaxy" I think.
Dammit. Now I kind of regret not taking pictures of what I've done. At least a selfie or something.
Even if I was in the pool or spa.
This half of the entry is filled with so many food pictures that I feel fat now.



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♒ PORT OF CALL 2: HONG KONG ♒

Hong Kong was a familiar place for us. Somewhat.
So, we discussed prior to our trip where we wanna go. Langham Place X.
Alighted after all the tour groups left, and took the public transport to Langham Place.

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BREAKFAST!!!
I guess one thing good about long cruise trips is..... My parents get to eat other cuisine out of the cruise.
Also mean they'll get to eat Chinese food. They can't live without. Lol.

It was still very early so not many shops were opened.

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Separated from the family and ventured out.

I was trying to search for this shop that sells 老婆饼 (Sweetheart cake / Wife cake). I very clearly remember where it's located, but couldn't find it at all. :((
That was the best I've ever had. Tsk.
I don't remember the brand though.

After shopping around for hours (no photos as evidence. Sobs! Food again), we went for some dimsum. Lol.

Couldn't find one that serves a great variety, so we settled with some random restaurant.

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This mango dish is very nice.

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包z 包z 包z
Baoz baoz baoz
Bunz bunz bunz

Reunited with our parents after enjoying the dimsum and headed back to cruise.
I actually like this..... Dropping briefly at a few places and then heading back to the "hotel" (cruise).

You don't need much planning for each destination since you won't have that much time.
So, you do what you want to do most.

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The card that has our credit card details (for onboard purchases), our dining time and table, our muster station and photo card numbers.
It's so cool now... Technology has made things so simple!
Instead of printing the photos taken onboard by their photographers, they store everything in this computer.... All you have to do is swipe your card and you can view them all.

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Our loots!
Top row is mine mine mine.
Love that biscuit brand! :D
I hope I'll wear that 2 pairs of shoes though. :X

Our time in Hong Kong was slightly longer... We got back, rested a little and went soaking in the jacuzzi.
SO relaxing for the feet after a long day of walking.



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♒ SEA DAY 6 ♒

I can watch the waves all day..........

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Me finally trying their buffet breakfast.
We hardly wake up for breakfast when we are onboard. Lol.
These shots were taken to share with my colleagues during their lunch time. Muahahhaha.

After breakfast, we roamed around and went to play Bingo!

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So many cards. So many numbers.
Lucky people will always be lucky.
Aunty Teo won quite a bit and split it with my mum.

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Photo session!!!
They have these at different times. Just like in normal themed parks.
We were just lucky to see this Panda roaming around after our game. Lol.

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Food again. This is dinner.
I LOVE THEIR BREAD BTW. Have I mentioned?
I've never eaten so many bread in my life. Lol.
At least one bun everyday. And it's just this particular one.
Didn't take a picture of it.......... Craving for it nao. Sobs.

And omg corn!!! I love corn!

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♒ PORT OF CALL 3: TAIPEI - KEELUNG ♒

First time visiting Taiwan. I had so much expectations because I've heard so much from people.
I wasn't disappointed and really enjoyed my day there. :D
Would love to plan a vacation there someday.
EAT EVERYTHING AND GROW FAT.

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Us waiting for our chauffeur.

We didn't go for cruise tours in Taiwan too.
Didn't think it was necessary since we speak the same language and can make do without the touristy spots.
Did a little research back home and found someone within our budget.

Comfortable mini bus for us. ^^

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The weather was awesome.
Why can't Singapore be a little less harsh on us with the heat?

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First quick stop.

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So windy, so chilly.

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Funny shot with our driver. Lol.
He's extremely friendly and helpful. Such a joy.

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He brought us next to this tourist place.
Also the last one because we told him we'll go straight for some shopping after this. Lol.

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This stone is what the attraction is about....
Stone that looks like a lady.

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WE SAW IT!!! Can you spot it?
We didn't pay to check out the place. :X Went roaming around the vicinity and found that the stone is actually visible somewhere near. Lol.

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Stretch of local products being sold. Mainly for tourists I suppose.
And as tourists, we contributed quite a bit here. Lol.

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After this boring stop (we spent more than 30 minutes shopping that stretch of local products), we were brought to 九份.

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We just went ahead and walked, and walked, and walked.

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We had so many sticks of this. Lol.

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Don't really fancy anything with ginger, but this beancurd was so smooth.
The ginger soup bothered me just a tiny bit.

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THIS IS SO NICE OMG!!
Never really liked "Black Ball" in Singapore. Only like the one from KL's "Snowflake", but this one....
TOPS ALL THE FREAKING BALLS!!!

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Looking at this makes me shake my head with a serious craving.
The beef noodles. *slurps*
Have never tried beef noodles because I thought the smell would be too much for me.
But this was very balanced. Noodles handmade too! FWAH!

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After streets of food and local products, we reach the top!
I love the weather. Walked so much but didn't feel exhausted.

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Interesting yet creepy at the same time.

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Got a little lost looking for the bus stop our driver was telling us.

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A hill? mountain? filled with tombstones.

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After a stomach filling trip to 九份, we requested to go to our last destination....
西门町!

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So lucky to chance upon this!
Have heard so much about this brand of 蚵仔麵線 Taiwanese Oyster Mee Sua, it was good.
Won't say it's very good though. Just... good.

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Didn't find many oysters in mine leh. Why!

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Different kind of mochi. Theirs are less.... sticky, more chewy.

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Random shot because the color so naise.

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This was rather shiok!
Not chicken breast, I like. Didn't taste tough, I like like.

After eating, we found this really cheap shoe shop.
$7.90SGD PER PAIR SAY WHUUUUT!!!
I wanted to buy all the pretty shoes. Pity not all of them look good on my feet. :((

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A temple in the middle of the street.

This was somewhere else.
After shoe shopping, we met up with our driver and got him to drop us at Keelung Night Market.
It's near our port, and since we were still a little early, we checked it out.

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I like that Singapore is racial harmonious (somewhat still), but I'm jealous of other countries when it comes to bringing dogs out. Lol.
They can be brought around everywhere!

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Dinner!
You think we'll skip dinner after eating all the nonsense right? Lol.

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Seafood without rice for dinner. Cheap cheap.

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This corn was weird tasting.
Corn not crunchy or sweet and coated with peanut butter?!

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WA THIS WAS DAMN GOOD.
SWEET POTATO COATED WITH HONEY!!!
Too sweet after the third one though.

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My loots!

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Buys combined with sisters'. Keke.



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♒ SEA DAY 8 ♒

We finally forced ourselves out of our bed to check out sun rise!
But there's no rising sun. -.-
And it was freaking cold? VERY FREEZING COLD!!
The wind was so bloody strong.

Speaking of which.... I think it's when we're going towards Taiwan and moving off from Taiwan...
The sea was very choppy. I felt uncomfortable on a few occasions where I thought I was swaying.
Even after standing on stable ground, I felt like I was slightly swaying.
So unbalanced.

Day 8 was spa day again, so lets go straight to dinner again. LOL.

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Remember I mentioned us checking out Chops Grille with the family?
Here's the night.

It was without our mother though. She was down with food poisoning.... Poor her.
I think she suspected the food she ate in Taiwan. The seafood?
Cruise has doctors on duty, so she got a vaccination onboard and was told to be quarantined for a day. Lol.
They are very careful when it comes to this I think? The housekeepers who tidy her room has to shower after being done. Lol.

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It's okay, second mother is there. :)

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FISH! Nice nice.

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The jumbo prawns.

With no doubt, sis and I had beef again. SO GOOD.
But I guess, it's more worthy to order these seafood. They come in smaller portions, so you can order more!
Maximize the value paid for dinner. ;)

Maybe order the fish and jumbo prawns next time? And then the smallest beef. Hahahaha.

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Desserts.

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This was very good.
So I take back my word on their dessert being so-so. Not fantastic. But okay.

Cannot remember what we did after dinner.
But we were happily chatting while walking back to our room.
Opened our door and I almost screamed my lungs out.

Okay, exaggerated. It was just a "Ahhh!".

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THIS MONKEY GREETED US. WTH. Lol.

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Just imagine opening the door to this.
Was so caught off guard. Lol.

Oh. I see the hat was still in a good condition on this day. LOL.



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♒ PORT OF CALL 4: JAPAN - NAGASAKI ♒

I was most looking forward to Japan!
And I love this place. So serene.

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The morning view. FWAH.

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Us just wasting some time. Lol.

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Booked another tour for Nagasaki because we've never been to Japan and didn't do enough research to know what to expect and where to go.

The walk out took rather long. Had to clear custom and queue for a bit.
There were so many of us.

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And then so, here's our very cute tour guide.
She speaks understandable English! But she's very cute.
She keeps repeating "and then so" Lol. Like almost every sentence?
Here's her explaining to us the location of Nagasaki.

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And then so, you see a random sports court in the middle of nowhere. Lol.
This is a tennis court, right?

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So much green!

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And then so, here's our first stop!
Rest stop.

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And then so, the sea look so blue!

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Freaking hell, my lips no color, so pale so ugly.

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And then so, the first official stop was Shimabara Castle.

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Cute girls dancing to welcome tourists. Lol.

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SAMURAI!!!!

The tour seem to be very samurai focus.
Many samurai stories in this castle, and then we checked out some samurai houses.

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Cannot imagine how heavy these uniforms are.
Is that why Japanese are not very tall?
But actually, Asians in generally are not extremely tall. :/

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The stick layout of the castle.

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Quite cool....

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And here's the real deal. Lol.

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At the top of the castle!

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Why do we have so many high rise buildings? It'll be so cute to have all the small cottages instead.

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Placed the tripod and my camera somewhere high for these shots. HEH.
No need help from others!
No need to scared others have poor photography skills. :X

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Our new way to take selfies where you can see the background. Lol.

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Kimono for you?

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A tiny garden on the way to samurai houses.

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This stream of water flows below a long long stretch of houses.
HOW IS THAT THEY ARE SO CRYSTAL CLEAR AND CLEAN?!!

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Didn't take many shots of the samurai houses...
We went to 2.

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And then so, LUNCH!

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So delicious. Every one of them dishes.

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I came know that Japanese are not as crazy as us when it comes to Salmon.
Salmon are more for children, and adults usually eat other kind of fishes. Like.... tuna.

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And then so after lunch, feed the goat!

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And then so, last stop!
A place where it shows you houses that have been buried by a disaster. A volcano eruption.

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The map showing how the volcano lava travelled.

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It was said that these weren't man made.
They were preserved from after the disaster.

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It's quite amazing...
If you look closely inside, you can see how some of the items are still intact.

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These houses were so well built, they didn't melt or get totally ruined by the lava.

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And then so, VERY SWEET STRAWBERRIES!
We got 2 boxes.

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AND SO BLOODY CHEAP TOO WTH!

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Looks super good right?
The redder the strawberries, the sweeter they are.

After our pleasant trip around Nagasaki, we headed back.

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Here's them Japanese working at the port waving happily to us.
It's so amazing.
The only stop that gave us a goodbye performance (drum performance) and rode around to wave us goodbye UNTIL we are out of sight.

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And then so, the sun set on a very pleasant note for me.
Gave me higher expectation for Tokyo.

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And then so, here's my sister and her perfectly swirled ice cream. Lol.



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♒ SEA DAY 10 ♒

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Johnny Rockets for lunch again.

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The Karaoke competition.

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Last dinner onboard.

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Got their Singaporean chef to cook up something Asian for us and the table beside ours. Lol.

The table beside ours was a family of Singaporeans too! Became quite friendly with each other and saw each other at the Card Room often.

Everytime I go onboard, I get so aspired by the energy of crew members. Always happy! Out of curiosity, I checked out the nationality of the crews.
There were no Singaporeans except a few chefs in the kitchen. Huhhhh.

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I love this!
Wasn't surprised by the menu on the first few nights because they seem to repeat from our other cruise.
But this is new! New and I like it! Not that big a portion too.

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Had this too. HEHE.

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The goodbye show. SOBS.
SO QUICKLY!!!

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And the next morning. :(

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Me up and happy.
FINALLY IN TOKYO!!
Also, good hair day. ;)



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♒ PORT OF CALL 5: JAPAN - TOKYO ♒

That shot above is a performance they had for us. Awww. Why they so effort one. :')

This is the last stop. For other tour packages, this would mean guests would travel back home by plane.
Lucky us, we got this package that included an extra night in Tokyo, and a simple day tour!

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Took this lame 30 minutes cruise around some place.
The person introducing the sites only speaks Japanese la, hello. =.=

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Cute dog playing with its ball.
The body looks like it's bending on a physically impossible state. Lol.

And here, you'll see that Tokyo is not very very far off from Singapore.
And that's what I feel... That Tokyo is similar to Singapore.
Of course, less the culture and the weather. All else, it was quite similar.
TO ME.

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Buildings.

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Highways.

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Buildings.

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Buildings.

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More buildings.

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Buildings again.

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And yeap, buildings.

I like it a lot more in Nagasaki.
Still Japan, but a lot different and nice. It's quite amazing how one country has such a contrast within themselves.

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Okay la, there were greens at some point.

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Plain, but very delicious lunch.
Shabu shabu.

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Tripod shots again.
I don't care if people look at us when we take these pictures man. Lol.
Easier to take a quick few shots then to shyly look for someone to take it for us.
Also risk that the person might end up taking a not so nice shot.
The only trouble is carrying the tripod around, really.

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Rainbow bridge and liberty statue.

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THIS DOG SO CUTE OMG

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LIKE FAKE ONE

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Tokyo Tower

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Next, a famous temple.
Cannot remember what it's called and too lazy to research up on it.
I AM ALMOST DONE WITH THIS ENTRY YÁLL.

That's my tour guide walking, by the way.
A pretty cute Australian guy. LOL. He asked quite a bit about Singapore but none of us really answered him. Lol.
-Singaporeans-

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Temples are temples, isn't it?

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Place filled with tourists.

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Nothing special about these ice cream burger.
It's like our.... ice cream vendors. Those that sells those biscuit ones?
For $1 those kind? Yeah, similar to those. Though better tasting ice cream for this.

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After checking out the temple, we quickly walked to the shopping area.
Managed to only cover half of it. :(

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Quick snap on the way back to meeting point.

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These are not grapes!
So cool.
Some kind of weird plant. Lol.
But so pretty.

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Us and our tour guide!
He's not photogenic. Don't judge my taste.

Anyway, it's interesting isn't it? An Australian being a tour guide in Japan.
He has a lot of knowledge about Japan. Also gave us a different opinion about things.
Shared many funny fun facts too.

Ah. Random, but one thing I dislike about tours is the waiting....... We had to wait so much for people to come back.
It was frustrating because they couldn't keep up with the time when we already have a tight schedule.
Unfortunately, when we were at our last stop, we end up being the latest.
A good reason for that is, our dad went missing. -.- I don't know how we lost him, really.

My lesson from the day, don't complain about other people or you may end up being the cause.

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Our last stop before dinner.
Shopping!!!

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The place (I cannot remember where again), sold a great variety of stuffs!
Clothes, shoes (mostly), food!

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Dinner place.
Not very good. It was disappointing.

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Random shot of the street.
Looks like a place Singapore would have too, right?

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This Big Echo thing is indeed Big. Keep seeing it around Tokyo. Lol.

So, we were done early with dinner and went out roaming.
Found this restaurant that did ordering via a vending machine.

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AND WE TRIED IT.

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A warm bowl of delicious udon shared by 6 of us.
This is a lot tastier than our free dinner. And this wasn't even expensive!

I wanna explore Japan moarrrr please....

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Our hotel!

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Our many luggages. Lol. Bought so much.

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Our room!

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The night view from our balcony.

We got back rather early... At 8pm. According to our tour guide, all tour buses have to head back to their headquarters at 8pm.
I cannot remember why though. Such an interesting rule.
Good though, gave us a chance to head out somewhere else.

So, we quickly washed up and went out!!!

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Went to Shinjuku!

Checked out their famous Shibuya Crossing.
It was really quite interesting. Everyone just walked... You won't bump into someone else but it looks so messy just walking.
A good kind of mess. Haha. No pictures though... I didn't have a good view from anywhere above to take a shot.
And it was too late and dark.

We checked out some of their malls and headed back shortly.
And when we were going back, the train was stuck for a whole....... 10-15 minutes.
It was quite ironic, because just that day, our tour guide was telling us how impressive Japan train services are.. That the average train delays last for a few seconds. -.- How lucky were we to experience something that was definitely off his brag... :/ The train is very packed though. Like something we'll experience here. Except, we couldn't understand anything the train attendant was announcing. Lol.

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On the way, we found this! SO COOL.
I felt proud when I saw this. LOL.

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Cute things I buy in Japan. :X

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New sweater over my dress because it was cold that night. Kek.
These kindda things can only be done in cold countries. I like.

Anyway, what else we did in Shinjuku was shop.
The rest of them had a good time in Uniqlo.

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Morning!

We had a bit of time to spare, so we went to this mall nearby to shop.

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THIS IS EXTREMELY DELICIOUS.
Sweet Potato.

In this supermarket, we also bought a lot of souvenirs back.

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Got this very very very very very nice crepe cake too.
Wanted to share it there but the cafe had this rule that everyone needs to order something. -.-
We sat down, heard about this stupid rule and left. The cafe was empty lo!
But anyway, I forgive them because this is the BEST CREPE CAKE I've ever had. BEST.
Cream so light, fruits so sweet.

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Waiting time with Wi-Fi? Use phone. Lol.

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Last meal at the airport before departure.

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LOOTS FROM JAPAN.
SO MUCH FOOD OMG. Hahahah.

AND OMG OMG OMG I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS ENTRY LEH!!!
Imagine! I didn't complete this entry on the day itself. Took me a bloody few days. TSK.

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Ah! Before I proceed to end this entry, here's us with Sugar before we begin our adventure. ;)
We were definitely not the only on vacation!

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Brought Sugar to her favourite boarding house. ^^
(Yes, she has a favourite and this is a lot less expensive. Heh.)

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So cuteeeeeeeeeee! :D






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ღ FAVOURITE PICTURES!!! ღ
Despite that face. Lol.

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ღღღ


After this long vacation, I am actually not experiencing any withdrawal. Instead, I am feeling quite excited to head back to work... A little unbelievable, isn't it? Lol. Because, it was an extremely satisfying break.... I was very happy...

Besides, working would mean I'll be refueling my wallet for my next trip!!!! :D

Next trip. Which is likely to be with my girlfriends. Which is likely going to be Phuket. Which is likely going to happen in July. SO EXCITED ALREADY!! Muahahahaha! /eatgrassnow.

After this cruise vacation, I HAVE COMPLETED 1/2 OF MY RESOLUTION THIS YEAR! Which is to go on 4 trips in 2015. Which is one every quarter. Which is very likely happening, pending the last one (anyone wanna travel in October??). xD

Okay, I am exhausted.

BYE!

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