Cruising Along ( Part IV - Final )

I must mention about my brief stopover in Kuala Lumpur. The deal was there would be about 6 hours (2pm to 8pm) of shopping at a mall of your choice and they would arrange a coach for us, each plying different malls. I thought, "Great, 6 hours...".

By about 1pm plus the second day, we had already reached Port Klang. Everyone was getting busy to disembark. When I got out of the ship, I finally managed to snap the Virgo from the outside in broad daylight. The smaller ship was Libra, which had arrived earlier.

By the time we got on the coach, it was already 2.30pm. I was going to Mid Valley Shopping Mall because I was familiar with the place. The other places the other coaches were going were KLCC, Petronas, 1 Utama, AEON, Bukit Bintang etc... Hey, I could not help noticing the distinctive dragon up the blue sky. Can you see it? A dragon welcome to Kuala Lumpur, haha!

Who knew the trip from Port Klang to Mid Valley took about one hour. By the time we reached the mall, it was almost 4pm! Knew I won't have time to shop, as we were instructed to be back to wait for the coach by 6.30pm! The first thing I headed for was WOFS to get my magazine (it was cheaper because of the exchange rate). Then I went straight to the stall inside JUSCO department store selling Assam Laksa. I usually have this when I visit Mid Valley.

To show I really like this Assam Laksa, here is another close up. The soup was tangy appetising and the noodles were smoother than those of Mee Tai Mak. They used tuna fish, pineapple, green chilli, lots of onions, cucumber and other spices. This was the only bright spot of this visit to the mall. Yummy!

By the time I was chased to gather at the South Gate for our coach, it was about 6pm. Caught the sunset. I only managed to buy 2 long sleeve tops for niece and nephew (70% discount) from Jusco and 2 spray lollipops for them back home. We boarded the coach about 6.45pm, and we got stuck in the traffic jam for one hour just to get out of Mid Valley! Gosh! And another one more hour back to the ship! A total of 2 hours to reach the ship at 8.30pm, and the ship was supposed to set sail by 9pm. If I had known, I would have just stayed back in the ship to do other stuff. Spending more than 3 hours on the coach to and fro was simply not worth it with the hassle of jams.

This was what I saw on the way back to Port Klang, a car with a car plate starting with "WTF". Haha!! Yeah, it was really a WTF day trip.

It was great to be back on the ship. You know, during the journey onboard, when those times I could be alone, I was on the deck facing the sea. I played the numerous mantras of different Buddhas and songs from my handphone, not for myself, but rather for the unseen creatures in the underwater world and skies and environment. I said a silent prayer to the Buddhas for protection as well as to supplicate to the Nagas that there be no more harm to humans, in the form of diseases and physical dangers caused by natural causes like tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. (Pardon me, if non-Buddhist readers may not understand all these).

In a way, I think I was greatly blessed during this short trip. Throughout the cruise, there was no thunder storm or heavy downpour or choppy waters, even though year end is rainy season and it had been raining heavily almost everyday in Singapore. But on the ship, it was all peace and calm. It was out of my expectation. Incredible. It was only when we were about to reach Singapore land, then I saw dark skies and clouds hovering above us. Still it did not rain.

Despite a good trip (I saw some good and bad things, and equally learnt some precious lessons), I was glad to be going home. It was when I reached home, that rain started to pour real heavily. Wah, truly thankful and amazed.

Will I go on a cruise again? The answer is definitely yes! When the time is right and when there is right companion to go with.

Hope you enjoy the sounds of waves and winds as much as I did! Ahoy!!!