Another Quantum of the Sea: Day 4, Home Sweet Home

It was the day of disembarkation. 

The last cruise, Auntie S and kids were scheduled to disembark at 7am while we were at 8am. This time, we were at 8am and 9am respectively. 

We were probably somewhere in Indonesia the day before and my mobile phone time was one hour behind. Taking the time difference into consideration, I set the alarm accordingly only for it to go off at 5am. Back to Singapore time lah. Duh! 

No more morning exercise and we got to sleep in a little more. Lil Shauna enthusiastically jumped out of the bed when reminded that we were back in Singapore and her phone had come alive. In minutes, she was in the balcony with her phone. The phone never left her hand ever since. 

We dated for a final bfast. Don't waste.

We had time and went back to the cabin for some rest before our turn for disembarkation. I did the final packing; the kids were just glued to their gadgets. Zzzzzz..

The sequence for disembarkation was according to the luggage tag number distributed. The numbers were clearly announced or updated on tv channel 23. Though scheduled at 9.15am, our number was called slightly before 9am. 

Hello Thursday.

Goodbye Cruise.

The entire disembarkation and immigration process was smooth and efficient. Before long, we were on the Gojek home. 

Home sweet home.

Did we enjoy the cruise more this time? There are some wins and some losses. The cruise felt a little more crowded this time and we couldn't make it to some of the intended activities bcos they were full by the time we turned up. It was upsetting to be able to book the bumper car only once bcos we were all looking forward to that. There was only one show that we caught but we thoroughly enjoyed that. We missed the iFly again.

On the good side, we are all cruise experts already. We snatched the earliest checkin time and got to do all the dance classes even though the kids were not keen to accompany us. The splitting ways method works great for all of us and we got to take part in some activities that we didn't the last time. The kids are very comfortable with a cruise holiday now and were able to stay alone in the cabin or participate in activities without us, leaving us more freedom to ourselves. The boys absolutely enjoyed the boogie boarding. Lil Shauna enjoyed the food and the table soccer. I enjoyed the break from life routine and to be able to spend time with my love ones. ❤️❤️❤️

Auntie T is heading for the same cruise in December. She had asked for tips on what activities to do etc. In my opinion, it doesn't matter what activities, just do whatever that Is enjoyable or looks like would be enjoyable. Don't stress too much and all will be good. 

Is that the December school holiday calling? Hoho.

Mummy Lim

Another Quantum of the Sea: Day 3

The girls and I agreed that we would workout in the morning. Auntie S and T were also keen to join. To entice Zaky, I told him that he would earn $1 for every round around the tracks and each incremental round would earn him $0.50 more. Lil Shauna's job was to encourage him and she would get whatever he earned, like an one for one deal. The money can then be used for arcade onboard. 

While waiting for Zaky to bite the carrot, I happily posed on the balcony. 

It took a while for Zaky to finally decide that he would join us. It was a tough choice bcos the bed was so comfy. 

Hello to Wednesday!

The sun was peeping. 

Start-to!

The girls and I attempted to jog but it was freaky windy. Approaching the turn at the front of the ship, we had to brave the wind that was pushing us back like a pair of invisible hands. While negotiating the turn, the wind attempted to slam us against the wall before finally pushing us roughly away right after the turn. It was scary and I gave up after 3 laps, completed just in time for the glorious sun rise.

The girls stopped for their 脚步 and so did I for some HIIT. 

But not forgetting to torture some bugs 1st. We were in the middle of the sea, where did these bugs come from?

The boys managed to clocked 3 rounds too. Zaky earned $7! 

We left the deck when Zaky started screaming bloody murder from the lack of bfast. 

After tummies were filled, we headed different ways. The girls wanted to hibernate in the cabins, the boys decided to go swimming, I insisted to go for the dancing class, dragging Auntie S along. The boys were old enough to head for swimming on their own. 

It had been difficult to get a slot at the dancing classes. We turned up earlier only to realize that there were a handful for the class. I didn't mind the extra space. Hoho. 

It was very enjoyable mini workout session. Auntie S and I went on to take 2 other dancing classes for the day. As the day progressed, it got more and more difficult to remember the steps though. Haha. 

After the dancing class at 9am, we started the "split way" routine. Auntie S took the 1st shift with the boys at the boogie boarding while I took the girls to go play sudoku. Then we swopped. We were so efficient at it.

My turn with the boys. 

They waited pathetically under the sun for their turn, so did I.

The boys were willing to leave when it was nearing noon. Zaky had been eyeing the Harry Potter quiz. He had been mesmerized by the series recently and is currently at book 5. 

I thought we would flop at the quiz. Although I had completed all the books, I seriously remember nuts about it. The rest of the gang didn't even catch all the movie sequence, let alone read the books. 

I was pleasantly surprised - Zaky got 12 out of the 20 questions right. The questions were on trival facts like "what plant is used to make the potion to save somebody that was petrified", "what animal is on the Ravenclaw logo" and "what is Dumbledore's full name". Siao ah? How would I know? Apparently, Zaky does. I am so impressed. I wish he studied for his exams as well as he "learnt" from the Harry Potter books. 

Lunch was a simple affair when we had that heavy a bfast. We dumped the kids back at the cabin for another dance and I left a "piece" of me on the cruise. 

The various activities/ quizzes went on for the remaining afternoon. The girls coincidentally bought and brought twinning outfit. 

The last activity before a long break was the table soccer. Each family could book a 20 mins slot. For some reason, the kids got to play for 45 mins before the next family came. 

Lil Shauna said that it was the most interesting activity on the cruise. Win already. 

We went back to the room for a long rest. The boys took a nap in prep for the final night boogie boarding session at 8pm. 

We had to trade dinner for the session bcos the only sit down dinner starts at 7.15pm and usually dragged to 8.30pm. The boys opted for pizza so that we can go Q early for a slot. 

Auntie S brought the 2 ladies for proper dinner. 

Obviously the boys didn't mind. I had too much food and plenty to burn from the last few days and volunteered to bring the boys. 

The night session was great. The Q was much shorter and best of all, no sun for me. 

The boys had to savor every single minute of the last session and stayed until the very end of the 1.5hr slot. T was last in line and I got to take this wonderful shot of the boys with the fantastic background. 

The night scene was so pretty under the lights. 

But after the long day's activities, we didn't have any more energy to enjoy. Haha. 

Good night to our very last night. 

Mummy Lim

Another Quantum of the Sea: Day 2

The wifi is so choppy, much more choppier than the last cruise. It takes so long to upload a picture onto the blog post. Whatsapp is laggy, let alone sending over videos/ pictures. It is training my patience. Haiz. 

I wanted to do a morning exercise and Lil Shauna was willing to entertain her mother. Hello Tuesday!

Hello Elephant in the lift..

Hello Mr Sun!

Hello to the obliging teenager!

We proceeded with our morning exercises - I did my favorite kickboxing HIIT while Lil Shauna worked on her netball drill, aka 脚步.

After an antagonizing 45 mins, we were done!

It was time to go back to the room to get ready for bfast. What was Zaky doing? He was very busy and diligently guarding the room and the bed. Hoho.

Bfast time!

Zaky was all ready to hit the boogie boarding right after bfast. We got the wet gear ready and headed directly. Now, it was Lil Shauna's turn to go guard the room. We were busy people and the room must have felt very safe. 

 

When the Q got too long, we pulled the boys out for some indoor activities. The mummies were baking out under the sun for way too long. 

We did the napkin artistry and the origami. It didnt really matter what but we were just joining activities and enjoying the cruise. 

We squeezed in lunch at the all time favorite pizza cafe before the one and only show - Gold Art Dual. We caught the other dancing show the last cruise and didn't find it any good. 

The Gold Art Dual is so good! It was just a pair, doing a mixture of acrobatics and magic with a lot of humor and we were all very entertained, going oooooo and ahhhhh constantly. They were previously on America Got Talents and Ukraine Got Talents! 

Thereafter, the boys bugged to go back for more boogie boarding. The jiejies were totally not interested. Auntie S and I then split ways - one of us would bake under sun to supervise the boys while the other would go with the girls for the other indoor activities. 

I got the honor to do the 1st one on cartoon characters. Before the game, picture time 1st. 

It was an interesting game. Despite us being overaged, we are still quite good. Hoho. 

Then, I ran off to look after the boys while Auntie S had some indoor fun with the girls. 

This is me, trying my best to hide from the sun. I have to cover off my half closed eyes. Hoho. 

More boogie boarding pictures. I have like so many of these in my phone. LoL. 

While watching the boys, I saw the iFly. 

The kids didn't try it the last time and Zaky wanted to do it this time. I was trying to convince Lil Shauna to do it with him but she wasn't keen. When I finally decided to book for Zaky, it was all sold out. Obviously, many people are willing to spend USD40 to fly for 1 min. 

The boys were willing to go when the Q got too long and too super long a wait just for one turn. Auntie S and I finally "knocked off" from our shift. 

We saw people doing Xbox and table tennis the last time and found out that we can book directly at the Seaplex. I managed to book table tennis followed by Xbox for the kids. Each family is allowed to book once. While the kids were at them, Auntie S and I sneaked a breather.

We had to drag the kids back to the room for a rest before dinner. The girls were tired from the early morning while the boys spent so much energy boogie boarding. Zaky had a 30 mins nap, which was a life saver or I would have an over-exhausted kid by the end of the night.

Dinner was again a super long affair. The girls sat together this time and with companion, dinner though long, was a lot more interesting. We went for a final game show before calling it a night. 

Daddy Lim must be super bored and lonely at home that he had to find Cookie for companion. 

We also had an animal in our room. I think it is a monkey carrying tiger. 

Good night!

Mummy Lim