Next stop @ Phuket

Though it was less than 6 hours of sleep that nite, I somehow, miraculously managed to wake up to catch the beautiful work of God on the sky just in time. I shook KT up, and he suggested to go up on the top deck to have a better view of the skyline with Phuket in view too.

Near the jetty area.


















A "tree" on the top deck.























The area was peacefully quiet and serene, it's like the whole place belonged to us, we could walk around in our pyjamas without washing up yet.











The ship has its own helipad.Isn't it so cool?



















Watching sunrise from the ship was fantastic. The Greatest show on earth.















































Apparently, I came to know that sometimes Virgo dock at the Patong beach, where cruisers walked on a long walkway to the beach itself to disembark. That would be so fun as Patong beach is famously known to tourists. Unfortunately for us, we dock at the jetty area, where going to Patong would take 2 hours or more to and fro by cab.


The star of the show "Kingdom of Kungfu" on our first nite was hanging around as well. So, we took the opportunity to take a picture with him. He told us he performed on board for about 4 months already and he came from Shaolin, China. I wondered if he was one of the "dropouts" from school and needed to give performances to make a living?? He gave a superb show anyhow.



We quickly went back to wash up, had our breakfast and eagerly await to see Phuket.



*Wolf whistling*.... That's one sexy pair of leggies, don't you agree?






















The taxi quotes were too pricey around the pier area. We were told that more taxis are available if we to walk out, say about 5-10 mins away. We took that advice, even though we need to walk under the hot sun. (Shows how far we can go in order to save some money!) Warm greetings awaiting us... it was pretty scary, in fact, everyone were talking to us in Thai, it was like being mugged.


KT found a guy who could speak "pass-able" English, and quoted us half the price of the taxi fare from where we started. The guy turned out to be quite a nice guy, and the car was a comfortable spacious 10-seater.










He took us to a "shooting" gallery. KT paid 890 Baht (that's RM89, bugger!) for 10 bullets. He made a pathetic 35% score.















Then, just nearby, there were elephants for sale. Not the elephants-la. Elephants ride, that is. And the fee was ridiculous. It would be silly to pay that much to experience the bumpy ride on the back of an baby jumbo under the scorching sun and worse, in that unbearable stench! We just took a look at the little jumbos and continue on with our Phuket-one-day tour. Forget about snake watch or cock fights, all the entrance fee were way too unreasonable. Or is it just us?



We then went to a temple. It was much too hot, and with the guide realising that too, he took us to "cool down" in a shopping mall, similar to Carrefour. Then, lunch was near a seaside and was "butchered" left and right by those bloody thirsty leeches! (spent about RM160 for just fried rice and noodles! The tom yum soup was great tho.)














After lunch, we then made another shopping tour at Robinsons, but there were nothing much to see or buy too. We had to leave Patong beach for the next round, as it was getting pretty late. The cruise guidelines clearly state that they wouldn't wait for late boarding cruisers. So, we went back "home", and made some last minute shopping right at the "doorsteps".



























































This is the market place that's right at the "doorsteps". I bought a scarf for a blardy 400 Baht, and a piece of beachwear plus a little frock for Chloe was 250 Baht. These blood suckers, they are not even interested to bargain with you, they prefer to entertain the angmohs lurking around.

When I was done and about to get back onboard, I couldn't find my ID card. This ID card is important, if I lose it, that would mean I am an illegal, and I can't get back up there. Panicked for some few mins or so, when I saw KT and his parents and my mil asked if it was in my pants pocket. I was relieved to find it there. Whew! The adrenalin was really pumping all over, and I had to take a few long breaths to cool down.

The cruise departed earlier than scheduled, probably everyone was back up again. We had to take a good rest, as it was exhaustive, mostly because of the heat, I think. The gala dinner was in a few hours time with code of attire "smart casual". Everyone is expected to "dress up" a bit, and there would be a cocktail party at the Grand Piazza to meet with the executive crew.


The meal was a grand 8-course dinner, portion was more than enough for us as the 3 little ones were counted as 3 adults. Everyone had about 3-4 bowls of shark fin soup.




Before dessert was served, we were entertained with some performance from the waiters and waitresses. It was planned to details showing their appreciation for us being there. Not sure how they felt inside though. Just imagine if you were them, your job doens't only cover waiting on patrons, but dancing happily and monkeying around to entertain them as well... tough, isn't it?
I think it's just a matter of getting used to, huh?





Then, we met and took picture with the captain and had a look at the executives of the crew.

Later on, we watched another performance by the same people from the first nite, I think. It was pretty late, as they arranged the time so we won't have to rush over the dinner. But bad news was, Chloe got pretty uptight with the lack of rest she had the whole day, and I had to missed the highlight of the show. Heard it was a good show with acrobats balancing on some teeny weeny string... something to that effect. Anywya, I missed it as I took Adrian and Chloe back to the room, and they went to slumber almost immediately.

Later in the nite, the 3 of us excitedly left the kids in their grandparent's care, for another "highlight" of the whole cruise. It's the "FEVER Las vegas styled topless revue". Yes, not a typo error there, it's TOPLESS, ok?

I haven't seen a topless show before, and it was so cheap.. only SGD20 per boobs, err.. person. It starts at 12 midnite, and wanted to make value for money, we went at 11+ to make sure we get good seats with a nice and clear view.

The people earlier than us probably thought the same, I think, and they were 95% men! Both of us (female) felt rather weird coming in from teh doorway, and so, we quickly took a seat. We sat on the 3rd row, where the first 2 were almost preoccupied with these ham-sup-lo. When KT went out for a while, I felt very uncomfortable, it was the feeling of being surrounded by these men all over. I suggested to Jm to move a seat back, and she quickly agreed. It was much better then.

What a long wait, but we had our own entertainment meanwhile. Being early has its advantage, at least, we don't get judged when we enter the hall. So, WE look at the people coming in, and talk about why they were here etc etc. Quite a nice watch.

The show finally began. Juicy. But what the heck do you know.. I almost fell asleep because I was wayyyy too tired. Then again, I didn't let myself down, I did watch until the end, and enjoyed the glory of it. Boobs are really beautiful, aren't they? Ok lah, the dancers danced beautifully too, with their happy smiles slapped all over their faces. There was some parts of the whole show I particularly liked. Too bad they don't allow cameras, it would surely attract viewers here.



The next day was a leisurely day, we took our own sweet time getting out of the bed, having american breakfast by the seaview window (with just both JM and I), lazed around, walked around, until we reached back to where we started out.




Very punctual. We arrived at 7pm, disembarked at 7.30 sharp. Bye bye, my dear, it's nice cruising on you. We'll be back!