I have never had to stay in hospital before except for the time I gave birth. Giving birth is a happy occasion so we don't often associate that as 'staying in hospital'. Staying in hospital is usually associated when you're sick or if you've had surgery. For me, this first time of staying in hospital was for a Laproscopic Ovarian Cystectomy. Meaning I had cysts in my ovaries removed via keyhole surgery. In addition to the cysts in my ovaries, there was a rather biggish cyst that was outside of my reproductive system that the Dr couldn't determine what it was hence it was recommended that I do the surgery.
Let me tell you the first thing I felt was shock. I had never ever needed surgery before, and I was in fear. Firstly I feared the surgery itself, feared something would go wrong and secondly I feared what they would find. What if it's something that wasn't benign?? As I was telling my hubby on the phone I struggled to hold back my tears.
For the whole week I was trying hard not to think about the surgery and I was trying hard not to think about what would happen if something goes wrong. I shed a few tears and said a lot of prayers. I was feeling somewhat at peace, but the fear was still there.
On surgery day itself it was so difficult. I had to fast for 6 hours before the surgery and it wasn't just fasting on food, I also couldn't drink anything. That was torturous. I gotta say tho, I had to suck on a small shard of ice just to help with the thirst. Then we also had to deal with the waiting period, we had to show up at the hospital 2 hours in advance to get registered and get ourselves ready etc.
Fear set in as soon as I was in my hospital gown and on the bed. As I was being wheeled out of the room and saying good bye to my husband I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. The nurses must've thought I was being a bit dramatic. But then again I'm sure they've seen many patients looking as frightful as me.
The doctor and the anesthesiologist had a chat to me before I was wheeled into the operating theatre. They put a thick blanket on me and I assumed because it was gonna get really cold inside. As I was wheeled in closer I tried to take in as much as I could of the surroundings. The room was sparse, but had big lights overhead that wasn't yet turned on. Inside there were a number of nurses, or were they trainee surgeons, I'm not sure. They wheeled me next to the operating bed and I was moved onto the bed. The bed was very narrow so the nurse told me not to move or else I might fall. I never knew that operating beds were so narrow...Then they told me I will feel a warmth behind my back because the bed was heated. The thick blanket was still on top of me, I was wondering how cold would it get in there? (After the operation I found out the operating theatre is kept at 18 degrees Celsius to prevent infections. Ok, but how does the Drs function their hands under such cold temperatures??).
The anesthesiologist then proceI eds to put a needle through my vein on the back of my hand to put the line for the anesthetic. That was pretty painful and actually I remember being able to feel the drug going into my system, it was also a bit painful. Within about 2-3 seconds I succumbed to the anesthetic, I was like getting dizzy then I just decided to close my eyes and that was it, I was under.
I was told the surgery lasted about 1.30 hours. I don't particularly remember how I woke up. I think they called out my name? Not sure. I think I remember saying can I close my eyes again because I still feel sleepy. Or was that a dream?
So the surgery went well and the Dr said the large cyst is not likely to be anything serious, but they've sent it for testing just to be sure. At least he said there was no abnormal growth. I don't feel any pain and even now, 3 days later I still don't really feel any pain. I feel slight discomfort and slight pulling on my tummy belly button area, that's where one of the keyholes were. The other two are to the left and right of my tummy. The only negative thing i felt was the nausea from the anesthetic which was easily fixed by a shot of medicine.
So that is my story of my first ever surgery experience. Dear readers if you are reading this and you have a surgery scheduled soon, I just want to say it's ok to feel fear. Even the smallest of surgeries is still a surgery. Don't let anyone belittle your feelings.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Musee Platinum Tokyo - non paid review
Any woman can tell you that it is real hassle to maintain certain areas of your body hair free. Not to mention the annoying way thus said hair sometimes decide to become in-grown hair causing yucky bumps here and there and then causin you to pick at this said bumps then causing scarring 😡. I really really hate it. When I was younger I did the normal shaving thing using your typical disposable razor. Then I discovered Epilators and have been using it since then. I liked epilating coz the hairs came back a little finer and I would really only need to epilate like once a week. But again those pesky ingrown hairs would make their appearance. Hate.
I wish I had plucked up (no pun intended 😝) the courage to go for IPL earlier. IPL stands for Intense Pulse Light treatment. I won't go into the science behind it because you can look it up yourself. The interesting piece of fact that I came across when I was reading up on IPL is that it will only work if your hair is dark and your skin is pale. I never knew that!
I only did my research online and didn't didn't really look up that many places. The reviews for Musee seemed acceptable and they had a promotion on their website for Unlimited Under arm hair removal for just $30! Sounds too good to be true right? We all know how these beauty centres work, you go in coz of the promo then they'll try to sell you a more expensive package. But with Musee apparently they pride themselves on no hard selling. More on this later.
According to their website, Musee uses the SSC system. "S.S.C. Hair Removal stands for Smooth Skin Control Hair Removal, which is a new state-of-the-art pain free technology*. With S.S.C. Hair Removal, our specially formulated gel is activated when exposed to beams of filtered light. As compared with self treatment such as shaving, plucking and waxing, this technology is more gentle to your skin with minimal or no discomfort. The plant peptide in the gel also helps your skin become even smoother & polished."
Sounds promising doesn't it? Plus the fact that it was from Japan was enough to convince me to try them out. So off I went to their Plaza Singapura branch at Dhoby Ghaut. At first glance they look like any beauty centre. What I do like about the place is it seemed pretty open, the beauticians are all visible out front and there seemed to be quite a number of them. Honestly I was pretty nervous going in knowing that it was highly likely that they would try to sell me some kind of package.
I was taken into a very nondescript private consultation room where I had to first fill out some forms and surveys. Things like any medical problems to what kindd of self hair removal methods do you use to how many times a week do you remove your hair. After a whole a consultant came in and started explaining to me anout hair removal and hair growth cycle, etc. Oh my gosh she spoke so fast that it was hard to keep up! From what I remember she hardly talked about the basic $30 package ($38 including bikini line). She asked me what areas I wanted to remove. I said under arms and bikini line and she tried to persudade me to consider getting my whole netherregion done including the...let's just say booty region. I've never been a full Brazillian girl but she did get me thinking. And before I knew it she was calculating some numbers and decided that 36 seasion would be enough to do everything and that would cost i think just under $2000 with discount Oh and did I tell you there's a credit card interest free installment plan with certain banks and she punched out some numbers on her trusty calculator to show me how much it would cost each month. By this rate my head was swimming. I've never been good with numbers and making decisions at the same time. I did ask her again but what if I just want tondo my underams and bikini line, oh then thats just $38 she says really hurriedly. But really should consider this package one you can also use it for your legs, she continues on. And anyway the bikini line area only remove not much, she says. And she says it's also good for hygiene to get it all off.
She really wasnt that pushy I guess. I was never uncomfortable talking to her. So it was more like strongly advising and encouraging.
Despite the fact that one of the requirements before treatment is for you to hve shaved 2-3 days beforehand she was ok tongove me an appointment for the next day to get whatever procedure done and sign on the dotted line. You know at first I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't just start the treatment that day. But on hindsight I'm so glad that I had the extra time to work out what I really wanted. If I had signed a package I would basically have about 2.5-3 years to use up all the sessions. That's a long time!!! What was I thinking to even consider it?? Basically if you're removing all your pubes off you will need that many sessions because it's supposed to be a highly resistant area. Back to the point, I can't even commit to a gym for more than a year and that's with me dragging myself!
So after this initial consultation I left feeling slightly confused and dazed. Oh and I also got this triangle thing which I guess was for us to go home and use as a template to shave for our bikini area. The lady should've explained it to me better since it's all in Japanese.
First Appointment:
So today I came back for my official first appointment. Point to note, appointments before 12 are easier to get. When I got there they asked me which package I wanted to sign up for and I told them just the basic underarm and bikini line. I was expecting a whole lot of of questions but that was it. The lady (different from yesterday's one) wrote on the form and got me to sign and make payment. Before proceeding she made sure that 12 hours prior I hadn't drank any alcohol, take medication or worked out. Phew I almost did work out this morning before I decided to go back to sleep 😄
After that she led me to the procedure room. The room was smaller and shabbier than I had expected.
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| If you notice, the curtain on top of the pic divides you from the other customer in another room. |
So here's the bed all wrapped up in plastic. There's a towel, a change gown and the little blue thing is disposable g-string paper undies.
A little locker to keep your belongings and clothes.
After changing into the garments the beautician will knock on the door asking if you are ready once ok she then comes in, you lie down on the table and the procedure begins by her putting paper towel over my eyes followed by googles or glasses and another towel on top. Next she asked me to lift up my arms above my head. She used an electric shaver to shave off whatever hair was still there. Then cleansed with a wipe or maybe she did that first, can't remember. Then she spread this really cold gel on my armpits. I quite liked the cold gel feeling actually 😄. Next she tells me she's gonna start with the IPL and I brace myself for some pain. Pain that never came. It really was pain free! For me anyway and I'm assuming it's the same for others. You might feel a slight warmth and that's it. The only other uncomfortable thing was seeing bright flashes out of the corner of your closed eyes. After that she wiped off the gel and put some cold ice pack things on my pits and moved on to my bikini area.
This area really is not for those who are shy coz she will literally be able to see everything as you are asked to bend your legs in a 90 degree angle (think breast stroke style). The procedure was pretty much the same as the armpit on. And then all was done within 30 minutes if not less!
For 12 hours after the procedure you can't exercise, drink alcohol, sauna, etc. And you're not supposed to swim a week after the procedure is done too. There's actually a long list of don'ts.
So for now I have to just wait patiently till my next appointment two months later in September. Why two months later? Well they said it's to allow the skin to rest and for your hair to go through it's natural growth cycle. The hair should fall out by 2 weeks and the new hair that comes out should be finer. Fingers crossed! They kept on reminding us to be patient before you can see results. Don't expect immediate results. And try not to shave, if you must at least wait 2-3 weeks. I'll try....that's all I can say.
UPDATE 9/10/16
So I've gone back for the second treatment and I'm glad it was fuss free and they didn't pester me again to sign up for a package. The hair on my bikini line and my left under arm is still growing, but interestingly the hair on my right under arm has kinda stopped growing. I mean there's a few that pops up here and there but it's not even that noticeable. So it's interesting that one armpit is growing and the other one isn't...weird yeah, but I guess that's how the body works..I dunno. Anyway, next treatment is in January, I hope it doesn't take too much longer to do.
This area really is not for those who are shy coz she will literally be able to see everything as you are asked to bend your legs in a 90 degree angle (think breast stroke style). The procedure was pretty much the same as the armpit on. And then all was done within 30 minutes if not less!
For 12 hours after the procedure you can't exercise, drink alcohol, sauna, etc. And you're not supposed to swim a week after the procedure is done too. There's actually a long list of don'ts.
So for now I have to just wait patiently till my next appointment two months later in September. Why two months later? Well they said it's to allow the skin to rest and for your hair to go through it's natural growth cycle. The hair should fall out by 2 weeks and the new hair that comes out should be finer. Fingers crossed! They kept on reminding us to be patient before you can see results. Don't expect immediate results. And try not to shave, if you must at least wait 2-3 weeks. I'll try....that's all I can say.
UPDATE 9/10/16
So I've gone back for the second treatment and I'm glad it was fuss free and they didn't pester me again to sign up for a package. The hair on my bikini line and my left under arm is still growing, but interestingly the hair on my right under arm has kinda stopped growing. I mean there's a few that pops up here and there but it's not even that noticeable. So it's interesting that one armpit is growing and the other one isn't...weird yeah, but I guess that's how the body works..I dunno. Anyway, next treatment is in January, I hope it doesn't take too much longer to do.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Pao De Queijo - Brazillian Cheese Bread - Airfried Version
This is a really awesome recipe that's so easy to whip up, even the kids can do and it's so yummy too! There seems to be two kinds of recipe for Pao De Queijo. One is this recipe which is a really thin pourable batter and the other one is the wet bread like batter that you can roll into balls and bake. I have tried both recipes before but I prefer this runny batter more because the end result yields a softer bread.
This kind of chewy mochi like bread is best eaten warm because once it cools down, the tapioca starch and the cheese mix causes it to go a bit tough. You can of course reheat it in the toaster or oven.
This recipe is adapted from http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_brazilian_cheese_bread/
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups (170 grams) tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup (packed, about 66 grams) grated cheese, I like a mix of Parmesan Cheese with some other type of cheese like Edam, Cheddar or Mozarella.
- 1 teaspoon of salt (or more to taste, this bread tastes better when it's salty or else if you stinge on the salt it's really bland and not tasty.
Method:
1. Preheat the airfryer for 3 mins at 180C. If you have the airfryer grill pan it's best to use this as it'll be easier to get the breads out of the moulds.
2. I experimented with using the above moulds. The colourful ones are silicone moulds frm Daiso. The silver ones are tart moulds. If using the silicone one you dont have to do anything to them. But if using the tart ones you must prepare them by coating them generously in oil so that the bread doesn't stick. And believe me, they will stick! I learnt that the hard way. I tried using cupcake liners too which didn't work as they stuck to the batter like they were holding on for dear life.
3. Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
4. Pour into moulds just over 3/4 full.
5. If using the metallic moulds cook them for about 10-12 minutes. You can check them periodically to see if they're done. Once nicely brown and puffed up you can take them out.
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| You'll know when it's done when you pull it apart and the lovely stringy insides pull apart with some resistance like this. |
As you can see, the ones with the silicone puffed up a lot more than the metal cups one partly because I was able to tip the breads out to continue cooking. The metallic cases will also cook and brown the bottoms of your breads faster.
I also tested what would happen if you just leave it in the silicone moulds to cook. And what happens is they will rise up like a soufflé and the sides and bottoms won't brown. And the tops will remain flat.
So there you go, that's my version of the Pao De Queijo cooked in the Airfryer. Hope you try it! And leave me a comment if it worked for you!
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Saturday, May 28, 2016
Day 4 - Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas - Phuket, Thailand
On the 4th day of our cruise we docked at Phuket. In Phuket, there is no port for the boat to dock at, so it dropped anchor not too far from the shore. In order to get off the ship we had to get a tender ticket. It's a free ticket that basically gives you the timing of when you're allowed to disembark using the tender boats. Priority is given to those people who have booked a tour with the cruise tour group.
Disembarkation was relatively easy and hassle free, and it only takes about 10minutes from the boat to the jetty which is right on Patong Beach.
As soon as you get off the jetty, there are touts everywhere asking (more like hassling) you if you want to go on a tour etc. If you're not interested just ignore and move along.
I was so happy to walk on Patong Beach. Why? I guess coz the last time we went to Phuket, also on a cruise (with Starcruise), we never stepped on the beach!! And Patong Beach is kind of the famous beach in Phuket isn't it? The water was clean and clear and it was just really nice.
There were a few beach activities you could do like Parasailing or Jetskiing. We really didn't plan on it, but we decided to try Jetskiing! I was excited and afraid at the same time. Excited coz we had never been Jetskiing before and afraid because well, we had never been Jetskiing before! Haha. Plus Caelyn was with us so I was a bit scared that she'd fall off. But it was actually quite fun, tho I was shrieking to hubby to slow down like every few seconds...hehehe. Next time maybe I'll have a go driving it on my own. The whole thing only lasted 30mins though.
After we finished we went to the area where every one was swimming in the water. It was a special roped off area where you are safe to swim, where you won't be knocked down by a jetski or boat, or whatever. We really loved swimming at the beach....however, afterwards we realised that there was no rinse off or bathing area!! Unlike Sentosa in Singapore or beaches on the Gold Coast in Australia, there was no where we could change. I was so disappointed, so we had to walk around in our soggy bathing suits. Luckily there were hotels around, and we just went into one and used their bathroom to change out of our wet clothes.
Next we wondered around with the aim of getting to the main shopping centre called Jungceylon. From Patong Beach it's about a 15minute walk to the mall and from the mall it was another 10-15 minutes walk to the jetty. If you like shopping, this place is worth going to, plus there is also a big supermarket there that you can stock up on snacks, etc to bring back home.
After having our meal and a massage and some shopping, we headed back to the boat in time for dinner.
The waters between Phuket and Singapore must be really rough because the boat was swaying a little, made me feel a little giddy during dinner and made me go to sleep earlier since I was afraid I'd get too motion sick. This happened last time too when we went on the Starcruise. I guess we must be going through open waters and the speed must've been quite fast.
And so that ends our series of Royal Caribbean cruising. Day 5 was at Sea and Day 6 was arrival back to Singapore. On the last day, we had to leave the boat quite early at about 9am, and there was no breakfast available. You could eat at the 24 hour cafe on the Promenade if you wanted to, but that's your only option.
For video of our Day in Phuket, click here:
Disembarkation was relatively easy and hassle free, and it only takes about 10minutes from the boat to the jetty which is right on Patong Beach.
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| The tender boats that brings us to Patong Beach. |
I was so happy to walk on Patong Beach. Why? I guess coz the last time we went to Phuket, also on a cruise (with Starcruise), we never stepped on the beach!! And Patong Beach is kind of the famous beach in Phuket isn't it? The water was clean and clear and it was just really nice.
There were a few beach activities you could do like Parasailing or Jetskiing. We really didn't plan on it, but we decided to try Jetskiing! I was excited and afraid at the same time. Excited coz we had never been Jetskiing before and afraid because well, we had never been Jetskiing before! Haha. Plus Caelyn was with us so I was a bit scared that she'd fall off. But it was actually quite fun, tho I was shrieking to hubby to slow down like every few seconds...hehehe. Next time maybe I'll have a go driving it on my own. The whole thing only lasted 30mins though.
Next we wondered around with the aim of getting to the main shopping centre called Jungceylon. From Patong Beach it's about a 15minute walk to the mall and from the mall it was another 10-15 minutes walk to the jetty. If you like shopping, this place is worth going to, plus there is also a big supermarket there that you can stock up on snacks, etc to bring back home.
After having our meal and a massage and some shopping, we headed back to the boat in time for dinner.
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| Caelyn enjoying massage |
The waters between Phuket and Singapore must be really rough because the boat was swaying a little, made me feel a little giddy during dinner and made me go to sleep earlier since I was afraid I'd get too motion sick. This happened last time too when we went on the Starcruise. I guess we must be going through open waters and the speed must've been quite fast.
And so that ends our series of Royal Caribbean cruising. Day 5 was at Sea and Day 6 was arrival back to Singapore. On the last day, we had to leave the boat quite early at about 9am, and there was no breakfast available. You could eat at the 24 hour cafe on the Promenade if you wanted to, but that's your only option.
For video of our Day in Phuket, click here:
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Day 3 - Royal Mariner of the Seas - Langkawi, Malaysia.
The ship docked at 8am and as we woke up, the scenery outside our window of the mountains and islands was really beautiful. I was super excited because we had never been to Langkawi before. We originally wanted to sign up for the Mangrove Trip by Kayak tour (Price: $109.75 per adult, $89.75 per child), but unfortunately we took too long to decide and by the time we made up our mind it was too late and the tour had been fully booked! The tour would've taken us on a kayak to visit the bat cave, local fish farm and lunch at a floating restaurant, plus eagle feeding session (note, lunch is at your own expense).
So today we decided to try breakfast at the Main Dining Room. I think the food is pretty much more or less the same as the Windjammer Cafe buffet, because it also had a small buffet section. But in the main dining room we had servers that would take our orders and pour us coffee and tea. could order a set plate consisting of something like Eggs Benedict on english muffins, etc.
It turns out that nearby the terminal was where all the tour boats were at for Island Hopping! We managed to get a boat to ourselves plus another couple from the cruise, all for only RM250. So for the 3 of us, we only paid RM150 for a three hour island hopping tour! Waaaay cheaper than joining the cruise ship one. And omg, it was soooo fun!!! One of the best memories and funnest things we did on this holiday. The boat traveled so fast that we were bouncing up and down. Ok, so at first I was so afraid that we'd capsize (and yes we had life jackets on), but after I relaxed I began to really enjoy it.
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| The mountains are simply breathtaking! |
So today we decided to try breakfast at the Main Dining Room. I think the food is pretty much more or less the same as the Windjammer Cafe buffet, because it also had a small buffet section. But in the main dining room we had servers that would take our orders and pour us coffee and tea. could order a set plate consisting of something like Eggs Benedict on english muffins, etc.
The terminal we are docked at is the Star Cruise Terminal. If anyone is interested, the address is: Langkawi Cruise Centre Sdn. Bhd, Awana Porto Malai, 07000. It's a pretty nice terminal, we went down from the ship via deck 2. The buses will pick up the tour groups right in front of the ship. However if you were like us, and wanted to take a taxi, we had to walk out pretty far.
Although there are taxis out near the entrance of the terminal, those minibuses and taxis will only take passengers if they are willing to join their private tour of the island. We ended up walking really really far and when we got to the entrance of the carpark where there was a guard house, there were other people there also waiting for a taxi and they told us it would be a 45 minute wait for a taxi. We were pretty annoyed. So we decided to just walk around and just discover on our own on foot what was nearby.
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| See the bridge you have to walk across to get to the minivans outside? The Minivans will tout their tours. |
Although there are taxis out near the entrance of the terminal, those minibuses and taxis will only take passengers if they are willing to join their private tour of the island. We ended up walking really really far and when we got to the entrance of the carpark where there was a guard house, there were other people there also waiting for a taxi and they told us it would be a 45 minute wait for a taxi. We were pretty annoyed. So we decided to just walk around and just discover on our own on foot what was nearby.
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| The ship looks very majestic |
It turns out that nearby the terminal was where all the tour boats were at for Island Hopping! We managed to get a boat to ourselves plus another couple from the cruise, all for only RM250. So for the 3 of us, we only paid RM150 for a three hour island hopping tour! Waaaay cheaper than joining the cruise ship one. And omg, it was soooo fun!!! One of the best memories and funnest things we did on this holiday. The boat traveled so fast that we were bouncing up and down. Ok, so at first I was so afraid that we'd capsize (and yes we had life jackets on), but after I relaxed I began to really enjoy it.
First stop was Pulau Dayang Bunting, aka the Pregnant Maiden Island. After a super fast boat ride, we arrived at an island that was quite crowded with lots of tourists. You can read more about this beautiful place here: http://www.langkawi-insight.com/langkawi_000047.htm. To get into the park, we have to pay a small entry fee. After that you're on your own to explore the park. We really didn't know what to expect. There was a path and we just followed it. Was quite a hike. Be careful, there are monkeys around. And these monkeys can get a little hostile when they want to grab drinks or food out of your hand or plastic bags.
At the end of the path you are greeted with an amazing view of the freshwater lake! I had no idea that this is what we'd find. There were people swimming, canoeing and pedal boating - which is what we also opted to do.
Related Posts:
Day 1 Cruise - Leaving Singapore
Day 2 Cruise - Port Klang
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At the end of the path you are greeted with an amazing view of the freshwater lake! I had no idea that this is what we'd find. There were people swimming, canoeing and pedal boating - which is what we also opted to do.
After visiting the island, we went back on the boat to see the Eagles feeding. This one wasn't that exciting. We only saw the eagles from a distance, we could hardly make out that it was even an eagle. The most fascinating thing was seeing other tours, but not on a boat, but on a jet ski!!
The next stop was Beras Basah Island (or translated to Wet Rice Island). There's nothing much on this island, but the water is gorgeous! It was beautiful. Soft powdery sand, crystal clear turquoise water, just beautiful. We were completely not prepared for any swimming, such a shame.
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| look how beautiful the water is at Beras Basah Island |
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| you can also go banana boating! |
So after that we headed back to shore and we made our long walk back to Mariner of the Seas, our hair was windswept and our face was covered with sprayings of salty sea water and we were left with really gorgeous memories. We didn't regret going on this tour one bit.
By 4.30pm all passengers are required to come back on the ship. And thus we ended our day with the headliner comedy show starring Jeremy Ansley, he was hilarious :)
Related Posts:
Day 2 Cruise - Port Klang
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