Holiday on Superstar Virgo - 3D/2N Redang

We just came back today from a 3D/2N cruise to Redang onboard Superstar Virgo. I'm dead beat but I wanted to blog while my memory is still fresh and to share some of the photographs taken on our son's first overseas trip. To view the complete album, visit my MSN Space.

The check-in time was supposed to start a 4pm. Like a typical kiasu Singaporean, we were at the the Cruise Centre at Harbourfront around 3:30pm. Quite a lot of passengers have arrived and many were tourists from China, Indian and other countries.

After spending a thousand over dollars on a Balcony Class cabin, we are able to avoid the crowd in the blue lane. The check-in was fast and we got our "All-in-one" access cards within 10 minutes. Superstar Virgo operates on a cashless system. The access cards are your cabin key, charge card, id card etc.

Our room was great and we brought everything we need down to the liquid cleanser for Shanle's bottles. After unpacking our essentials, we quickly go on a DIY familiarisation tour. One of the first place we went was Charlie's Children World. Unfortunately, Shanle's is too young to enter as they only allow children age one and above into the playground. With a baby in tow, food is the only enjoyment left. The great part is that there are plenty of good food to choose from the wide array restaurants and eateries on board. So besides eating, we spent most of time strolling around, enjoying the sea breeze, taking photographs and video clips. We also went to the observatory in the night and bumped into a group of Indian tourists who adored our boy so much that they took turn to carry him to take photos. All this going on under the watchful eyes of his mother.

We went to the main pool, the Parthenon, for a swim. But the pool was a bit small and crowded so I did not really swim much. While Irene brought her gear too, the crowd around the pool changed her mind to go for the swim. It's a small minus point here. Well, we also took this opportunity to bring Shanle for a dip. While he looked cute in his body suit, he was quite nervous initially. Shanle was so quiet throughout the dip and at times he looked like he's going to burst into tears. As the water was a bit cold, we did not spend too much time there.

We reached the waters of Redang around noon time. The tendering process kicked off and everyone started to stream to the Lido to gather before moving off in batches to Redang by the smaller speed boats. We were quite impressed by the smooth system put in place for a relaxing transition of all passengers. The weather was great for a day by the beach. But with a baby in tow, we headed towards the Laguna resort to find a resting spot. We managed to "chope" a row of sofa seats in the lobby and I quickly bought two fresh coconuts from the nearby bar to quech our thirst and bring down our body temperature.

After resting for a while, we decided to bring little Shanle to the beach to play. Fun it was and Shanle seemed to enjoyed himself quite a bit. There was also entertainment shows put up by the crew nearby to keep the crowd entertained. Shaolin monks performing martial arts, pirates pulling stunts and a little boy juggling balls. Not too bad. We did not stay long on Redang and headed back to the ship around 5:30pm. The end ride was surprisingly the most exciting part of our short holiday. The waters turned choppy and the speedboat banged and wanked through the sea amidst screams and wows. We were actually quite worried that Shanle, who is secured on me with a carrier, would turn green. While he worn a worried look throughout the boat ride, he did fine and cracked into laughter soon after we boarded Virgo, much to the relieve of his parents.

I guessed the bumpy boat ride tired our little one and he fell into sleep soon in the carrier after we boarded Virgo. We headed back to our cabin, which has been nicely tidied up by then, to take our bath and catch a breather. Shanle woke up soon and we proceed to dinner at the Samurai Japanese Restaurant. As usual, our cute little boy attracted smiles from many people along the way and at the restaurant. But having dinner with a baby fully awake is inherently difficult. Luckily his milk time came and he fell deep into sleep after guzzling down the bottle. Finally, we can have a nice meal and chat in peace.

The final day of the short holiday was uneventful honestly speaking. After washing up ourselves and our boy, we laboured through the room to pack everything back into our suitcase before heading off for breakfast. Mealtime was the most satisfying experience I had onboard Virgo. The sausages were good and so was the coffee. The food was not fantastic but I wasn't too difficult to satisfy food-wise. Disembarkation was a breeze and with a stroller, we were given priority channel and we got off in no time.

It was a short but yet relaxing holiday for our young family of three. It was a good experience for us to bring our baby along and we will be more confident if we need to go for a posting. It's great!

台灣云遊記之一 - 雪霸國家公園 梨山 天池 2002年八月

台湾运游记 - 前言

2002年八月。我来到台北的第三个月分。虽然只是短短的三个月，对于刚刚坠入爱河，两地相隔的恋人来说可真的是度日如年，万分煎熬。奕云首次来台探望使我感到万分的期待和紧张。毕竟，我们才相识不到五个月，对彼此的了解并不深。接下来的远距离恋情会如何演变，我心里没有低。为了巩固我们幼嫩的恋情，奕云可是付出相当大的勇气，独自飘洋过海来到陌生的台湾。除了准备鲜花还有浪漫的晚餐是不足以回报她的。想了想，我因该带奕云出外走走，散散心，享受享受台湾的好风景和台湾人的热情。在朋友的建议下，我终于选择了两天一夜的梨山之旅。

梨山位于台湾台中县景色秀丽的中横公路西段。西接台中，北通宜兰、东沿中横公路至花莲。我们参加了自由旅行配套。早晨六时我们便自行乘坐火车从台北沿着北回铁路来到东岸的宜兰与其他的团员会合。由于周日的关系，我们的团才七八人。我们就是乘坐照片里奕云身后的那辆小巴上山的。
虽然是梨山之旅，行程的第一站确是雪霸国家公园。雪霸国家公园是台湾第五座国家公园，位於台湾中北部，属高山型国家公园。从宜兰车站，取经省道台7线一路往西南方向驶上雪山山脉。我们只是短暂逗留，参观了一会儿公园游客中心。不过，公园四周的翠绿景色，鸟语花香，以让我们顿时间，忘去所有的烦人俗事，也给了我们这次的旅程完美的开幕。这篇文章上头，丛林山川在云间的景色就是在雪霸国家公园捕捉下来的。如果读者想要进一步了解雪霸国家公园，可以参考它的网页参观了雪霸国家公园游客中心后，我们就启程前往我们的目的地-梨山！


我们下榻的饭店是圣心大饭店。我还记得那时饭店正在扩充修建当中。我们的房间在顶楼第三层。饭店的区域除了小茶铺，杂货店还有几家比较小型的民宿。小小旅客区的四周都可以看到浓密的果园。在饭店用完简单的午餐后，我们便前往饭店老板的果园游玩。可惜当天下着绵绵细雨。为了不让照相机受到湿气而损坏，所以我们就没有任何果园里的相片同读者分享。

梨山上的果园大部分都是依着陡峭山坡而形。行走相当不易。雨天时的山坡更为湿滑，穿梭其中会有一定的危险。我们缓缓的潜入浓密的果园内，双手紧握着身边的树干以免不慎跌入坡低。老板则以敏捷的身手快步及熟练的往前开路。毕竟这片广大的果园时他每日辛苦劳动的地方。

老板说了：“在果园内，大家可以任意摘下梨子就地享用，不收钱！”

大家听了都十分兴奋，马上摘下垂钓在身边的梨子尝尝鲜。梨子果然多甜美多汁。邻人纳闷的是这些梨子的味道却和我们平常在市区购买的有些不同。它的味道似乎有些许苹果的香味。我们还没来得及发问，老板就为我们揭开了谜底。原来这些梨子是新开发的苹果梨！在市场上还没有大量供应呢。我们真的是三生有幸得以“先尝为快”。

虽然果园内吃的梨子是免费的，别以为我们就可以大带大带的把梨子搬回家。带出果园的梨子是要付钱的。由于在果园内已经享用了不少梨子，我们就没有外带了。老板也没有因为我们“白吃白逛”而不高兴。他也不是靠兜售水果给游客养家糊口的。外代付费的政策是为了防止一些贪得无厌的游客大量的采集梨子。些许的收入虽然不多，却也可以补贴补贴成本吗。我们一整个下午就耗在果园了。一早的长途跋涉，加上果园山坡上的爬动，我们大伙也都累了。这时的天还在下着雨。雨势也有增大的趋势。打包梨子的同路人结了账后，我们就打道回府了。

回到饭店，我们就到餐厅去用晚餐。和台湾大部分的旅游饭店一样，饭店的晚餐是自助餐。菜色也相当普通。不过高山上的蔬果就是比较甜美。尤其是那清烫高丽菜，不用添加任何调味料，就十分爽口甘甜。虽然不是什么山珍海味，我们也吃得十分开心。饭后，我们还走到附近的一家KTV去唱歌。梨山的夜晚也没其他好去处。因此大部分的团员也都在这家KTV。除了唱歌，我们也想用了鲜甜味美的热红豆汤。梨山晚间的气温是在十度左右。热热的甜汤正好下肚去驱寒蝉。

对于热恋中的情侣来说，为对方唱情歌是表达爱意再好不过的途径了。还好我平时有“烧香”，不用临时抱佛脚。机会难得，我就典唱了黄品源的《你怎么舍得我难过》还有五月天的《温柔》给奕云。回想起来，那次深情的歌声应该有打动奕云的心，深化了我们的感情。团员们也很捧场，给与我热烈的掌声和欢呼。台湾人似乎都是K歌之王，团员们个个都唱了他们拿手的歌曲，大家都听出了耳油。为了珍惜我们的二人世界，我们俩就没有在哪儿多作停留。再说，奕云坚持不肯唱歌，我一个人唱多没意思。我们离开了KTV，手牵着手慢步在梨山小镇的街上。

在人烟稀少的山上，也没有什么热闹可看。街边除了蔸买蔬果的小店摊，也没有什么其它的了。还好雨过天晴，天气十分凉爽。虽然有点冷，不过紧握着双手的我们依然保持温暖的心，漫不经心的在星空密布的山中夜晚，到处游走。奕云走累了，我就借机背着她跑了一段山路。一路说说笑笑之间，我们也得以享受片刻的宁静和沉默的拥抱。夜深了，我们为了不再人生地不熟的山区迷路，就快步回饭店休息，准备迎接明天的到来!

山上的空气果真新鲜舒畅让我们一觉到天亮。早晨很快就来临了。我们梳洗了一番后就把行李准备好以免下午耽搁了退房的时间。我们在饭店享用了简单的台湾式早餐-稀饭，咸鸭蛋，高丽菜，豆筋花生，等等。虽然简单，但却十分可口美味。温饱了肚子，我们大家就展开上午的行程前往南投县仁爱乡众多名胜之一的天池游玩。

天池，顾名思义是山上的水池。池内的水终年不枯竭。环绕着池的四周是浓密的森林-是享受森林浴的绝佳地点。天池的好山好水自然是先总统蒋介石所向往的游览之处。所以天池的右侧竖立着总统行馆《达观亭》。令我们最难忘的就是天池所看到的壮丽山景。连绵不绝的山峰群加上波涛似的云层白雾，这景观真的是美不胜收，令人叹为观止！


我们一整个早晨就浸泡在天池还有附近的森林步道，享受繁华城市所无法给于的清新空气和森林浴。很快的，我们也要结束这次梨山之旅，开始长途跋涉，回到我们‘水泥森林’中的家。在饭店用完午餐后，退了房，上了车，我们就依依不舍的道别这片美丽的高原。下山的路程十分顺畅。我们在两点多钟就抵达了宜兰车站。距离我们预定回台北的列车时间还有将近两个钟头。宜兰车站附近也没什么好逛的。除了一些买土产的小店铺，就是小吃店和便利商店了。为了争取时间早点回到台北用晚餐，我们就决定乘搭下一班自强号的列车。碰碰运气看看会不会有空位子。

刚上车的时候我们真找到了空位。本以为运气好，可以舒舒服服的一路到台北。唉！阿亮说得好“千金难买早知道，万般无奈想不到！”过了三四个站后，我们的位子就来了主子。我们只好从坐票变为站票。这一站就站了差不多三个多小时。到台北车站时，我们的双腿都已经发麻了几乎不听使唤。这真的是邻人难忘的体验。得到了这次的教训，我们今后就再也不敢随便提早上车，以免从蹈覆辙。

这是我写的第一片台湾运游记。希望读者会喜欢！如果想看看其他梨山之旅的相片，请按到我的得MSN空间。以下是梨山之旅所拍摄的一小段影片供大家观赏。

下一篇台湾运游记将会记载我和奕云在游玩台北著名景点“陽明山-擎天崗”的点点滴滴。 希望能在五月为呈现给大家！

Shanle Fully Recovered

Shanle has fully recovered swiftly from his bout of fever. The photo on the left taken on 23 Apr 07 shows it all.
We brought him to our favourite hair salon, Hair Mechanics, at Novena Square, to have him shaved clean. Look at him now... isn't he cute! ;)
Shanle is getting stringer as the days past. He is now six months old. Besides flipping around, he is also capable of making 360 degrees roundabout on his belly. He's still unable to sit or crawl but we think he will get there quite soon.
Next week, we will be going on a short break to Redang from 2 - 4 May 07 on the Star Cruise Superstar Virgo.
Below are some recent photos to share. I will upload more photos on my MSN Space and also video clips of our holiday sometime in May 07. Watch this space!

Waiting patiently for his turn at the hair salon

Sinking into a pool of balls

Shanle's first photo take with a celebrity! This beautiful young lady on the right is our family friend and a YES933 DJ - Siau Jiahui. The two photos were taken at Jiahui's eldest brother's wedding at the Noble House. I was most honoured to partner Jiahui as the emcee for the happy occasion!