Weekend Cruise To Nowhere On SuperStar Virgo 2nd Apr - 4th Apr 2010 Day 2

The second day on this weekend cruise to nowhere on board SuperStar Virgo holiday cruise ship turned out to be a great day. You have a choice of breakfast foods of a good variety at some of the outlets. If you would like some Chinese breakfast food, Pavilion Restaurant or Bella Vista would be your choice. For international breakfast food, you could visit Mediterranean Buffet Restaurant. If you prefer Western breakfast, then head on to Bella Vista where you can get your continental breakfast as well as ham and eggs.

A variety of breakfast food available in the Mediterranean Buffet Restaurant, an all-inclusive restaurant

More breakfast food variety Halal and vegatarian

We decided to head on to the Mediterranean Buffet Restaurant for breakfast as we like the variety of breakfast food available. If you require halal or Indian vegetarian food, then the Mediterranean Buffet Restaurant is the place to go to.

As usual, the bao or Chinese steamed buns were quite good. Today, it was the red bean bao. Filled with a good quantity of red bean paste, these steamed buns were just yummy. You could also have finger foods such as samosa (a fried or baked triangular pastry with a savoury filling), doughnuts, Danish pastry or if you prefer some Indian food such as vadai (a doughnut shaped Indian savoury snack) besides the normal choices.

Celebrating Easter Sunday

Casanova, a Las Vegas-styled show, was on that night if you were interested in watching. There was a promotion in ticket prices.
Casanova

After breakfast, we headed to The Royale Club, a casino for VIP88 members, on Deck 8 with the other group members. We decided to stay and try our hand at some mini Bacarat where we just followed our group on the bets. It was quite a good session with an amazing 16 ties occurring during the entire round.

The Royale Club Casino

The group members decided to quit during the second game when the going was not too good. We then headed to Blue Lagoon, a bistro outlet, since Mother was in a happy mood and wanted some ‘good’ food. We ordered some of the April promotional items such as the Herbal Duck Soup with Vermicelli, Pineapple Rice and Soto Ayam (a spicy chicken soup with noodles). The duck soup and pineapple rice were both tasty and appetizing. The soto ayam was not too bad except that it was served with egg and vermicelli which was unusual.

Pineapple Rice

Herbal Duck Soup

Soto Ayam

More Easter Day celebration decorations

After lunch, Mother went back to the cabin to rest as she did not want to gamble in the casino on Deck 7 where she was not accustomed. Some of our group members then spent some time in the casino to gain some points on our Star Cruise VIP88 card as well as pass the time. The Casino was quite crowded especially at the table games.

The Oasis Casino on Deck 7

For dinner, we headed to the Mediterranean Buffet Restaurant but were disappointed that the outdoor BBQ party was cancelled due to the weather. At the same time since there was a long queue waiting to enter the Mediterranean Buffet Restaurant, we decided to have some Chinese food at the Pavilion Restaurant.

Fortunately we managed to beat the queue and enjoyed the Chinese dinner. The Double Boiled Pork Ribs Soup with Lotus Roots and Peanuts was especially tasty as has always been the case. We enjoyed the other dishes as well which comprised the Deep-fried Prawn Dumpling with Mayonnaise Dressing, Fried Chicken Wings with Preserved Red Bean Curd Sauce, Steamed Fish with Bean Sauce, Stewed Pork Belly with Oyster and the Sauteed Garden Greens with Chinese Sausage. The lovely dinner ended with the Mixed Fresh Fruit Platter.

Tasty Double Boiled Soup

Garden Greens though they don't look too green

Chicken Wings

Steamed Fish

Prawn Dumplings

Stewed Pork Belly which had quite a bit of fat, but some loved this dish

Ending off healthily

When dinner was over, we accompanied Mother back to the cabin and again some of our group members proceeded to the casino to continue where they had left off earlier and others stayed behind to keep Mother company and get her ready for bed.

It was an exciting day as we managed, on the whole, to gain some winnings on board this casino cruise. Seems like this last Cruise to Nowhere on board the holiday cruise ship, SuperStar Virgo was a ‘lucky’ cruise for us.




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Malaysia Holiday – Rompin Malaysia Beach Resort Day 2

The second day of our Malaysia holiday in Summerset Beach Resort, Rompin.

A Malaysia Beach Resort

Today, we would be meeting up with the management of Summerset together with our master facilitator, Mr Martin Hahn, who is from BC, Canada to confirm the details for the “The Opening”, an awakening enlightenment guided meditation retreat that we would be holding here in March 2010.

Martin Hahn, facilitator of The Opening

The Opening

The Opening is a 5-day ancient enlightenment contemplation retreat so amazing, you’ll be left speechless.

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The Opening, unlike the usual meditation retreats that you find elsewhere, is something so profound that in a matter of three days you can discover your true self. When you do, you will experience a pure, direct realization of the deep Truth of who you are and this will stay with you for the rest of your life. It is a truly beautiful and simple process, yet also a deeply mysterious experience. Are you ready for this life changing journey?

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Enlightenment In 3 Days!

The pool looks inviting but no takers

Ocean Images

Sunrise images

Sunrise Images

Beach scenery

A friend of ours advised us to keep a lookout for some pink dolphins which had been sighted over the last few days. Alas, it was not our fortune to see them during that visit.

Summerset Beach Resort is also known for its role in playing guardian to preserve its environment as nature intended. The Malaysian government's policy in encouraging eco-tourism has given Summerset the boost to unflaggingly promote nature conservation.

Here are some pictures of bee pollination and bird's nest that we came across whilst in Summerset.

By the beach... Do you spot the bees?

Here's a close up...

What are you looking at?

Bird's nest

The Terrace where you can dine outdoors

Enjoy the serene nature

Get in touch with nature...

We adjourned for breakfast at 0845 hrs. You could get decent breakfast foods of some variety from the buffet counter.

Bread, butter and jam corner

The breakfast buffet counter where you can get breakfast foods of quite a good variety.


Decor in The Dining Room Typical Malay kampung house

Our meeting with the management staff of Summerset started at 0930 hrs with the General Manager Mr Gopal chairing the meeting. It was over in an hour and we managed to have quite a productive session thanks to all concerned. Datelines were set for further information that was required.

As we had strict food requirements for the guided meditation enlightenment, the head chef and the Food & Beverage co-ordinator were kind enough to whip up a sample for Martin to comment on. Great synergy on their part. Kudos to them.

Yum Yum

Lionel & Lisa waiting for Martin

Sharing a moment together, Lisa & Kaed

We finally left at 1315 hrs and made our way to Lucky Valley, approximately 60 km from Rompin. However as we were unsure of the way and it was a one lane road, we finally found the place and arrived at 1430 hrs.

Lucky Valley is a retreat that is nestled amongst fruit orchards, vegetable plots and herb gardens. It is cultivated on what was previously virgin jungle, which still lines the perimeter of the land. The retreat was founded by a Taiwanese master who discovered that the energy in the area was unusually strong and could be harnessed for health and healing.

Thus, the retreat is frequented by many Taiwanese and local groups who organize trips to Lucky Valley for "energy-enriching" retreats. The retreat is not a religious centre but is suitable for any meditative or spiritual group.

Good friends

Lucky Valley signboard at the roadside

The magnificent entrance to Lucky Valley similar to Jurassic Park

Energy Magnetism Pyramid

In the centre of the pyramid, absorbing energy

Which way?

Rest place

We did a short tour of the place and visited the Pyramid which is ideal for spiritual retreats and any energy-enriching retreats such as the awakening enlightenment retreat that we plan to hold, except that the place was a little small for the number of people that we were expecting.

Upon departing Lucky Valley at 1520 hrs, we made our way to Segamat intending to have a late lunch. As none of us were familiar with the area, we made use of our Garmin global positioning system to guide us to Xin Waan Fish Head Restaurant in Segamat. By the time we reached our destination, it was already 1730 hrs. So we had an early dinner instead.

Xin Waan Fish Head Restaurant

Entering the Restaurant

The food was good and appetizing. They even had a special chilli sauce which almost all of us enjoyed.

Tea & the special chilli sauce on the left

Our group of 6 hungry people

FOOD! Hurry with the order!

Steamed prawns

Frog's legs (very tender)

Black Pepper Ostrich

Fish Soup Specialty

Bean Curd On Hot Plate

Beansprouts

Sambal Kang Kong

Oh! That was FABULOUS!

Oh Boy! I can't move anymore...

Total cost for the six of us was merely RM130 (USD38.15), awesome value for money indeed.

Upon saying our goodbyes to the others, we then left at 1915 hrs to make our way back to Singapore. As it was raining heavily, traffic was slightly slow and we only managed to speed up a little upon turning into the North South highway.

We hit Gelang Patah at 2100 hrs and stopped to top up petrol before going through the customs and immigration on both sides of the Second Link. As there were not many vehicles, we managed to clear both the Singapore and Malaysia end by 2120 hrs. This was great timing.

After dropping our friend Kaed off, we finally arrived home at 2200 hrs. A wonderful, though short, Malaysia holiday but great because we had awesome company as well as a productive meeting for the awakening enlightenment meditation retreat to be held at Summerset Malaysia beach resort next year.

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