Mooiness!

Cruise Holiday January 2012 – On board the ship

mooiness — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:04:26 +0000

Looking through my photos, I realised that I didn’t take that many photos of life on board the cruise ship. It was a wasted opportunity that’s for sure but at least I got some anyway. The above photo shows the view from the basketball court on the top-level of the ship, right under the ship’s chimney/exhaust.

The next two shows the outdoor pool.

We only got to enjoyed it twice because out of the four full days at sea, the weather was only nice for two. We used the heated indoor pool and spa on the other days. Sorry, was too busy enjoying them and forgotten to take photos. Heh.

Being an American ship, the food on board were American too and that means high-fructose corn syrup.

Things with high-fructose corn syrup tastes just as sweet as things with real sugar in it but somehow lacks the mouth feel of things sweetened with sugar.

Also US beef don’t taste as good as Aussie beef. It’s true. But what was really good were these Alaskan King Crab legs. The legs were so big you eat them like lobster meat.

A cruise holiday is really good if you like lazing around and eating all the time. But it did felt like too much of a good thing to me over the course of 14 days.

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Cruise Holiday January 2012 – Koh Samui

mooiness — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:57:29 +0000

We set sail from Singapore at approx. 8:46pm on January 8th. After a day and a half of cruising, the ship dropped anchor just outside the port of Na Thon of Koh Samui at approx. 7:56am on January 10th. At around 8:30am our family gathered at the ship’s lobby and got ready to get on one of the tender boats to get onto the island.

The tenders are actually also lifeboats.

The time from the ship to shore took about 20 minutes.

Greeting us at the port were tour guides including ours and taxi drivers.

The first stop was Na Muang Falls.

Like a lot of places in Thailand, there is a shrine nearby.

It’s rocky in parts but you can swim near the falls.

As it’s thirsty work trekking up hill to see the falls, you can buy a coconut for 20 baht which is about A$0.70.

Speaking of which, our next stop was a coconut plantation.

Where we got to see this … monkey picking coconuts.

And do this … monkey sitting on your shoulder.

The next place is one of those places where humans have arbitrarily deemed a tourist spot because of funny looking rocks – the Hin-Ta and the Hin-Yai (a.k.a Grandmother and Grandfather rocks). What you are seeing below is the Hin-Yai. You don’t need me to point it out to you right? Alright, fine – it’s the one that looks like a penis.

The Hin-Yai rock was a bit trickier to get to (I had to beaware of slippery) so I didn’t get a picture of it.

What does it look like? It looks exactly like what you think it’d look like. 100% anatomically correct even.

On the road again …

Next stop, a wet market. Feels like a wet market, smells like a wet market. There’s a sizable Muslim population in this area which makes for an interesting mix of people and food.

After stopping for a very ordinary (but apparently expensive) lunch which wasn’t even Thai (!) at a very nice hotel with a very nice beach front, the last place on our itinerary was Wat Phra Yai (a.k.a. Temple of the Big Buddha). The Thais are quite direct when it comes to naming places.

I climbed up at these steps, prayed at the foot of the Buddha, and enjoyed the cooling sea breeze for a little while.

When we got back to the ship at around 4:30pm we were all very tired but I quite enjoyed our first day of sight-seeing. Besides the places that we saw, I think Koh Samui is a great place for a nice and quiet beach holiday. The next morning, the ship will be docking at the port of Laem Chabang and we will be touring Bangkok and Pattaya.

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Cruise Holiday January 2012

mooiness — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:57:20 +0000

I arrived back in Perth Thursday morning and I’m only just got to feeling “normal” again. I was quite lazy and cbf the past few days. Long holiday was long and sooo relaxing.

I’ve got plenty of photos to share and I will start with some taken on the first day. This is our first view of the ship at Singapore Harbour Front.

The baggage drop was smooth going but the check-in process was quite hellish. I estimated that we must have stood in this long line for at least 45 minutes.

A lot of the guests were elderly and I can’t imagine it to be a pleasant experience for them. I think a better way would be to hand out numbers to groups of guests and process us in batches, while allowing the rest of us to sit in a waiting room of some form.

This is what the corridors leading to the rooms look like.

This is what the cabins look like. It was small but cosy and just out of the photo to the left was the bathroom and toilet. The one that my brother and I shared was cheaper and had no port holes so once the lights were switched off, it was pitch black.

This is the view from the top deck looking out at Singapore harbour as the ship pulled out of port.

I will end with a shot of this – these hand sanitizers were everywhere on the ship. They take hygiene very seriously and they were very reassuring.

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ZoukOut 2011 official video

mooiness — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:37:27 +0000

ZoukOut is an annual dance music festival held on Sentosa Island, Singapore by the famous club Zouk. Martin, a friend in Singapore is a founder of Midlifecrisis Productions who has been involved with the video promotions of the festival for the past few years. Martin and his crew has recently completed the trailer for the recent edition.

A good trailer makes you want to be there and I think Martin and his crew has succeeded. It also makes me envious of the fact that they get to do this as a living and the fancy cameras and editing tools that they get to play with. I’m sure it’s not an easy job but you guys make it look so cool. Oh and hot chicks. Gotta love the hot chicks.

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I’m on a boat. Like a boss.

mooiness — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:24:49 +0000

Ohai. By the time this is published, I would have just got aboard one of these and will be cruising from Singapore to Macau with stops along the way for the next 14 days. Blogging may be sporadic. Not because there will be no internet (hello satellite broadband) but probably because I will be too busy stuffing my face or drinking myself silly with the family – all 22 of us!

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10 things about women that I learnt from my mom

mooiness — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:23:29 +0000

Don’t tell her to relax. Don’t say that she’s over-reacting. Don’t ever EVAR use the phrase, “Don’t be so emotional”.
Just shut up and listen. You are not helping by offering a solution, especially when it’s a perfectly logical solution. Women don’t want or need your logic.
Don’t make jokes about her period and/or its symptoms. You will instead memorise her cycle and learn to live with it. Don’t compound her mood-swings by arguing about her mood-swings. See #1. If you can’t handle it, leave the room and let her be.
When she asks you to do something, it’s not a request.
Anytime that she tells you that she likes something, mental-note it. You are expected to remember and there will be many exams.
When she asks you if she looks ok/fat in something, don’t be brutally honest. Instead, say something like “I prefer that other dress”. That way, even if she doesn’t go with what you prefer and she won’t most of the time because “you don’t know anything about fashion and why did I even bother asking you”, you haven’t ruined her self-confidence for the day.
You don’t have to be spontaneous but you have to be automatic. Know the difference.
Say sorry and be done with it but make sure to at least pretend that you know what you are saying sorry for. Otherwise, you’ll also be saying sorry for not knowing what you are saying sorry for.
Not complaining about what she does for you is not the same as complimenting her for what she does for you. And a simple thank-you goes a long way.
All of the above should be reserved only for those who are worthy.

Remember, a happy woman is more willing to indulge your own neurotic whims.

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If they don’t mind boinking you, it’s not a friendship anymore

mooiness — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:58:26 +0000

I’ve wrote about this topic multiple times now …

I’ve said that it can be possible if there is minimal or no sexual tension. Note I used the word “tension” and not “attraction” because I believe that you can find someone physically attractive without lusting after them.

“Men and Women Can’t Be Friends”
I’ve said that there’s nothing wrong being platonic friends with a girl, unless you happen to like them.

Being the platonic friend is not that bad.
I’ve also wondered about what if I liked men and there were no friend zone bullshit to deal with.

Sexual frustration leads to gay talk.

And then this clip comes along and summarises it more succinctly than I can, by posing this very question to college guys and girls. If you don’t know it already, the difference in the way guys and girls think of this is HUGE.

Short answer: if they don’t mind boinking you, it’s not really a friendship anymore. And well, what’s so wrong about that?

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Snoop is one expensive dog

mooiness — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:48:29 +0000

Two Sundays ago, due to my careless mistake of not checking before opening the garage door, Snoop ran across the street and bit my neighbour’s dog. Not only was I traumatised by my neighbour and his kids screaming and shouting, and the thought of their dog suffering a serious injury, I was also worried about the incident being reported to the local council.

This was not the first time that Snoop had bit a dog – the first time was the one and only time that my mom took him for a walk in the park, when he pulled my mom onto the ground as he rushed towards the other dog. If my neighbour had reported this incident, I was afraid that the rangers might make me surrender him to be put down. I was an emotional wreck and I was feeling nauseous and couldn’t eat and sleep for the next day. At one stage, I was curled up on the floor into a foetal position.

Luckily for me and thanks to my mom smoothing things over with the neighbour, the incident was not reported after we’ve had agreed to build a fence in our garage and to pay for their dog’s medical bills. The dog underwent treatment just this weekend and we are still waiting to hear back about how much it will cost, but initial estimates are that it’s going to be about $2500 at least.

Thinking back, this has not been the first expensive incident. Due to another careless episode, Snoop chewed open a box of snail pellets and my other dog Dillon ended up eating it. That cost us around $1200 to have his stomach pumped. There was the time he got hit by a car which cost about $4000. And then there was the time he had to have his leg amputated because of a tumour which cost about $1000 all up (it wasn’t so expensive anymore because I had pet insurance by then).

A conservative estimate would bring that figure up to about $10000. I’ve had him for 10 years so a rough approximation would be that he has cost me $3 a day to keep, on top of his food and regular medicine. If I look at it as cheap therapy it was worth it but then it was not all therapy – the stress that I went through during each unpleasant episode was terrible.

Would I have prefer to have had another dog? Perhaps. One that doesn’t hate other dogs so much would have been nice but at least Snoop is really nice with people and kids. I know that there has been a lot of times that my mood is instantly lifted when I’m around my dogs, and they motivated me to exercise by running and playing with them. Having them is therapeutic but it sure wasn’t cheap.

And one last thing, pet insurance is really worth it and I should have gotten it from the beginning. At around $300-400 a year and say your dog lives for 10-12 years, you just need to have one medical emergency or accident and you would have gotten your money’s worth. But it doesn’t cover your dog biting someone or someone’s dog so learn from my mistakes – be vigilant and know your dog’s character so that you know when and how to avoid potentially nasty situations.

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Mom’s 65th birthday at Zen, Subiaco

mooiness — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:23:26 +0000

For mom’s 65th birthday last Wednesday, we took her to a Japanese restaurant called Zen in Subiaco. Because why? Because she lurves Japanese food. Ok, on with the food porn.

We had their signature dish, soft-shell crab sushi called the Spider Roll. It was NICE.

The mixed sashimi with a raw oyster covered with roe. Dad loved it.

We also had the beef tataki …

And tuna tataki.

It was an awesome dinner. Happy 65th Mom!

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Margaret River November 2011

mooiness — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:00:26 +0000

One of my core beliefs in life is that the destination doesn’t matter as much as the journey and the people you have around you on that journey. However when that journey involves a long drive, I better like being around the people who’s coming along. Luckily for me, this trip was just like that. Most of the time anyway.

Tham had wanted the trip so that we can bond. My initial reaction was why couldn’t we bond right here in the city, and if we must be by the beach and wineries, we got it here too. Yeah that didn’t go down too well. Hahahah!

Something noteworthy: a few days after we left Margaret River, the control burning by the Department of Environment and Conservation got out of control and ended up destroying 40 properties in the general vicinity that we were staying and visiting. Luckily, no one was hurt or killed.

On to happier thoughts, these were the merry bunch of the trip – Kayo, Selina, Howe Chern and Tham.

First stop of the journey was Busselton and the jetty for lunch.

The weather was beautiful and after lunch we proceeded to walk the entire length of the jetty (1.841 km).

At the end of the jetty was an underwater observatory. Since we didn’t pay for that, there wasn’t much else to do but do silly poses and entertain the people on the slow moving tram. Yup – if you didn’t feel like walking, there’s a tram.

Next stop, Simmo’s Ice Cream in Dunsborough.

I was told it was to die for …

It was good but it wasn’t THAT good. Heh.

Less than a hour later, we finally arrived at the place that we will be spending the next two nights in. It was a beach house and it was awesome.

It was a fully furnished 4-bedroom house with TV, WIFI, dishwasher, fireplace and a BBQ. At $300 a night, I thought it was comfy but some of the others thought it slightly creepy at night. Though that was probably because we were watching a few episodes of American Horror Story.

After we dropped off our stuff at the house, we explored the area around the beach. It was too cold to swim though.

The next day and a half revolved around food …

wine …

wineries …

pretty gardens …

and more alcohol.

Oh and there was bonding. More or less. We did the same activities that we would have done if we’ve had hung out together here in Perth. I didn’t say that but I thought it. Hahaha! But honestly, thanks for the memorable trip guys. It wasn’t that bad after all. Next time we can save the long car trip and rent a place near Cottesloe eh?

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