Woke up early the next morning & was busy in my meeting until about 11.30am. After that had a leisurely lunch before heading to shore at Penang, Malaysia where we had docked.
The ship stops way out in the ocean & to get to shore, we had to take another smaller boat (Pic 1).
I was naturally very excited about going to shore! We were greeted at the shore with large banners “Salamat Datang” which means “Welcome To” in Malay.
The view of the cruise ship from the shore was fabulous - it truly is a wonderful ship! Also there was this other really amazing match-box toy looking like really beautiful ship decked.
Incidentally, fyi, Penang is an island located in the Straits of Malacca (along which our ship was cruising). We were in the capital of Penang, a place called George Town.
We spent our morning in this place which is “largely made of nineteenth-century Straits Chinese shophouses, with Indian and Malay quarters. Anglo-Indian colonial buildings are also to be found amongst elaborate Chinese and Indian temples and Indian-Muslim mosques.”
We also took a nice walk down Beach Street as well as take a bus ride through the city viewing the various sites.
After taking in so much of the sites, we decided to head straight to KOMTAR which “has long been a symbol of Penang island. The Penang state government offices are located here within the 60 over floors”.
Of course, our reason for going was simple - it also holds the place’s largest shopping center 
The pic below shows the main gov. bldg in the background (the tall round one) & the shopping mall in the foreground.
Some one told me to “shop till you drop” before I left & trust me, this day we did! Floor after floor after floor of pure delight. My mum’s heaven!
On our way back to the ship (they were very strict about reporting time) we were quite zonked but nevertheless enjoyed the sites on the way, like this amazing Church Pier I saw (pic 2). After that it was “Salamat Jalan” (Jalan means “Bye Bye”!!) to Malaysia!
Our ship had by this point already turned around, ready to move further down the Straits onto Thailand, our next stop. Even my matchbox toy ship had moved, now gloriously in the water.
One would imagine the day over at this point, but no, we’re happy sailors! After freshning up a bit, we decided to roam the ship a little more.
Here’s some of the onboard entertainment on the cruise:
• Galaxy of the Stars
• The Lido (showroom)
• The Picture House (Cinema)
• Out of Africa (Karaoke)
• Oasis (Games)
• The Mahjong Room
• Celebrity Disco
A nice thing about the ship is that there are lots of people all over, dressed up in fancy dress (lots of different things, daily) & quite happy to pose with you. Here’s a picture my mum took of me, she said “My angel with an angel”. Awwwwww mum, really 
Every night before bedtime, the next day’s itenarary is given to you in your cabin. After checking out the itenerary, we decided to go see the Spanish Line Dancing in the Lido.
To our utter surprise, it was not a show to be seen, rather a dance class of sorts, where they took all those who came & taught us a full spanish dance!!! So tired as we were, there we were dancing, 1-2-3-pose, 4-5-6-pose, great fun!!
Totally “worked out”, we decided to hit the Parthenon Pool for a spot of dinner. They were having live music & a special BBQ at the poolside and I gorged down lots of Mussels & shell fish… This was a BIG mistake & I paid for in the hours that followed. But we shall come to that.
I was quite ready to crash at this point but there was the special musical show happening at the Lido which I was dying to see. It was totally worth it, the singing, dancing, lights & sounds were fabulous. We saw special items from Cats, Star Wars, Lady Marmalade, Joseph & his Technicolored Dreamcoat among others.
Before the show had ended, my stomach already was hurting like hell. The shell fish were taking their toll. I literally ran out of the Lido when the show was over & into my loo. The night that followed was terrible. I didn’t sleep a wink, between a breathing problem I was having & my stomach I pretty much paid the price for my excesses of the day.
(Leave your comments only at the end of this adventure!)
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