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| Sunday, July 05, 2009, 06.03 PM | |||||
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Home » FeatureStory
Through an almost imperceptible drizzle, buildings and minor structures seemed to be moving. There’s no sensation of the huge vessel gliding across the dead calm waters until about 100 metres away from dockside. We were leaving Singapore’s Harbour Front. It was quite an entry into a world which most of us were unfamiliar with. Yes, boarding a plane is common these days. You pop in, pop out and hunt for your luggage on the carousel. On a ship built for about 1,500 sea-faring passengers, there was a welcoming committee of sorts, comprising entertainers of foreign origin. They looked like something out of Disneyland. Big smiles, genuine warm greetings, and then a group photograph for the ship’s records. Everyone was rather pleased that it was fun from the word go. Every corner we turned, there was someone ushering us into the right path. This is the life, we so often heard. Just like a scene straight out of Love Boat, a TV series that ran for 10 years from 1977. If ever any of us had fantasies about being Donald Trump, relaxing and basking in the sun as the yacht cut effortlessly across the boundless blue, this would probably be the time. Imagine, a ship 12-deck high with a state-of-the-art satellite communication system aboard and a highly trained crew to take you and your family from Singapore to Phuket in Thailand, in four days, three nights. You would be forgiven for breaking into a smile, just thinking about it. So naturally, now that the experience was very real and you were on a guided tour of the second largest vessel in the Star Cruise fleet, Superstar Aquarius, all your five senses would be on hyperdrive. Mixed Bunch “We are here. Living it up and having a blast.” The thought moved through your mind like lightning in stormy weather. Along for company, you had close to 1,000 people from various countries like India, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines and a couple of monks from Taiwan. Nothing like an international experience on board a finely tuned luxury cruise liner. Just when you thought only senior citizens could afford to go on trips like this, a whole bunch of kids started running circles around you, chasing one another. A ship this size, all 50,760 tonnes, has different classes of cabins. Ours happened to be more down to earth, literally. Our twin portholes were just above the waterline but the views gave us a sense of closeness to King Neptune’s waterworld. If you haven’t felt the power of deep greenish-blue waters lapping near your porthole as the ship cuts through the vast Andaman Sea, you really haven’t lived life to the fullest. There were quiet moments when all one could feel was the gentle rocking motions of the ship and the intermittent flashes of lightning among the dark clouds. Indulgence Aboard Entertainment in our room of four beds was confined to a TV set. On that day, when we craved for a bit of world breaking news, we came face to face with the sinking of a ferry in Philippines with tragic consequences. Definitely not the kind of report we would like to see and hear, especially when our ship was rocking rather unsteadily like a sampan on a undulating white water river. Naturally, we switched off the TV rather quickly. We were determined to enjoy ourselves, come hell or high water. High water, we could live with. Anyway, it was lunch time, and we had a choice of several restaurants — Oceana Barbecue on Deck 12, Spices Restaurant (for those who favour Asian cuisine) and the Chinese Dynasty Restaurant. The Dynasty was a natural choice. Surprise, surprise, it was a set menu. When the dishes came, post haste, it was a lovely display of big succulent prawns, honeyed lemon chicken and a fine spread of greens. Truly a lunch fit for royalty. To help work up an appetite, there was a pool outside and the sun beyond the horizon making the entire scenario straight out of a Hollywood film. Ah, this was the life! This line would never go out of fashion as long as we are on board. As if the main courses weren’t enough, the executive chefs had prepared a whole tableful of desserts that took our breath away. Two platefuls of sinful items later, we were beginning to feel a bit greedy and guilty but that wanton thought flew out the porthole as soon as we sighted another scrumptious piece of pastry. Who said you couldn’t have it all? We’d worry about cholesterol when we disembarked on the fourth day. Ahoy Penang! By high noon on the second day, the distant hills of Penang were sighted. Such a joy to see something familiar. If you think there’s nothing special about the Pearl of the Orient, try looking at it as you come in from the south channel standing on board one of Southeast Asia’s luxury ships, with the sweet wind kissing your cheeks. You may just think that you have died and gone to heaven. Slap yourself twice to make sure you are wide awake. Disembarkation at Tanjung Puteri Pier near Church Street, Penang, was carried out with professional expertise and efficiency that made you frown at other home-grown services that you could think of. Safety precautions were enforced with a firmness that brought an assurance that no untoward mishaps would be allowed to take place. None did and we all landed safely on terra firma, only to be accosted by a horde of very persistent cabbies who insisted we go somewhere. Prangin Mall? No problem. Only RM17! One of them nearly got a slap from me, an adopted son of the proud island. But I banished the thought and succumbed to my usual good nature. Four hours later, we were back on board, recalling the prawn mee and lor mee we had indulged in at the Swatow Lane Hawker Centre. Ah, Penang is always full of fine food memories. English, Please Next destination: Phuket, Thailand. Never been there before, so for me and my family, it was an extra dose of excitement in store. The day before we arrived in Phuket, it was imperative that we booked our tour accordingly. There were various tours to suit different people from different lands with different tastes. We opted for shopping at Patong Beach. So I found myself at the excursion counter sitting next to an elderly Indian woman, obviously of fine breeding. Initially, she was just as bewildered as I was about these offshore tours. But I definitely wasn’t prepared for was the stream of Hindi which she conducted quite nonchalantly with me. A response in English drew no acknowledgement. She insisted on speaking in Hindi. Earlier, I had taken a good look in the mirror, so I knew I didn’t even remotely resembled Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan or John Abraham. Obviously, we have a communication problem. It was a good five minutes later that my passenger friend realised that I genuinely couldn’t communicate in the language of her choice and turned away to seek more familiar territory. That encounter was definitely one to tell the folks back home, so now I am recounting it. One got to meet all kinds of interesting people on board a ship like this. There was a sizeable number of Indian nationals and more than a handful of Japanese, Australians and Singaporeans. There were three Filipinas from Mindanao who, fortunately for me, spoke English and we got along famously. They were really out to have a great time. When I bumped into them again on the third day, they were wearing permanent big smiles on their faces. Mabuhay! We were almost like longtime friends by then. They were lugging big bags of souvenirs from Phuket while I had T-shirts and native keychains for friends and colleagues. It’s Showtime Evenings on board the “love boat” consisted of long hours of world-class entertainment. On our first night, we watched, with great relish, the re-enactment of the Journey Of Admiral Cheng Ho. The show was as colourful as the costumes that the foreign actors wore. We were told that most of them were Brazilians. This was followed later by an acrobatic performance on par with the world famous Cirque de Soleil. Chinese acrobatic artistes contorted their bodies into impossible positions, just for our amusement. On the final night was Phantom Of The Opera, performed by some very talented crew members. The voice of the Phantom resounded through the massive hall and resonated with the loud applause of a very appreciative audience. Adding a final touch to a memorable Broadway evening were some marvellous acts by Paper Dolls who tickled the funny bones of many Indian nationals who later clambered on stage to express their appreciation and for photo opportunities. Cruising Magic As dusk slipped into twilight on the high seas, the silvery moon came up to peek at our ship, bejewelled with multi-coloured lights. Ambling along on a lonely deck seven-storey high, was as close to ecstasy on earth as one could get. The rush of the evening breeze at once embraced a walker even as it lifted one’s spirits to another level. Meanwhile, the golden slivers of light from a partially hidden moon bounced and shimmered over the dark waters. There are holiday packages all over this planet but a sea vacation where one can make a call through the cellphone on both sides of the Malacca Straits creates an instant high on any given night. There’s a gentleness and serenity amid the dark stillness just beyond one’s vision. The strong winds continuously buffeted one’s body. The only sounds were from the humming of the ship engines and the rhythmic waves crushing the sides of the ship. This ancient world explored by seafaring adventurers, maritime merchants and buccaneers for ages untold is, only now, explored by landlubbers like us. We welcomed the newfound experience and embraced the pleasurable sensations as the hours of day vanished into night without our knowledge. It was truly a moment in our existence when time stood still so that we could catch a glimpse of eternity. So before your knees give way and your bank account yields to economic pressures, think about going on a sea cruise. If you do, then bon voyage! Booking Your Cruise Holiday-makers who seek details on the sea cruise can either logon to www.starcruises.com/newweb/main.aspx or call its Malaysia international booking hotline 03-2302 1288. The Star Cruise office is at Wisma Genting, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Pictures by PHILIP LIM & STAR CRUISE
 
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