Thursday, June 28, 2018

Star Cruise -Hong Kong 2

Star Cruise - Pisces



What's all this cruise about ?
Only thing that was known to me about cruise was staying in the ship. Though I have heard about swimming pool, cafes, separate rooms like hotels etc in ship,  the curiosity to have the first hand experience of the Cruise was building up within me. Little did I know that  the cruise experience would have such a deep impact on me.


Waiting at Hong Kong airport.
On June 16, Saturday,  we reached the Hong Kong airport via Bangkok . And we had to wait for a group member to join us at the airport after collecting our baggage .
We all were seemingly looking tired due to the lack of sleep previous night. But , we were all ready for the excitements awaiting us.


Moving walkway in HK airport
 At this juncture, need to mention about the Hong Kong airport,  which is very huge and massive , with 2 terminals  , about 66 boarding gates and constructed on an island . It's actually a hub for many say 100 international  airlines . The airport is very posh, neatly maintained and has a strikingly  impressive look housing many duty free shops decorated with bright yellow lights similar to a mall , lounges, multi cuisine restaurants etc. The crowd mostly looked like Chinese  people .  And to move inside the airport , the moving walkways are provided end to end , where we stand with our luggages , it just carries us to to the other end. We just can't compare to the Chennai airport in terms of size and the maintenance. Such an awesome airport !!


Massive Honk Kong airport
Mall like appearance in HK airport










The air traffic is very high at the airport , heard somone in our group commenting , "Hey!  This is like Koyembedu bus stand of Chennai ya !!
True, one plane after the other keeps landing ,one behind the other. And on the other side,  we see the planes taking off one after the other without any time gap .We all soon found ourself stuck to our mobile in no time , as there was a free wifi available in airport.
One night Cruise booking was already booked at Star Cruises Hongkong from June, 16to 17. Also we had made arrangements  for to and fro within the city to move around all places as per our tour itinerary with the Crimson travel agency. They also took care of  hotel stay and other ticket bookings at all sight seeing places.


So,  by June 16  afternoon , we reached the Pisces, it's the name of the Star Cruise we were about to stay.

Cruise seen at the inset



There was a very strict security check to gain entry to the Cruise ,even they had withheld our  passport & visa with them during our stay there and gave us an access card to move around the cruise ,complimentary  food and and stay in the room.  The room can be described as very compact, yet with all facilities like dressing table, a 2 tier cot & a single cot with one optional under-cot extension in case to accommodate any small kid , a slim portable ladder to climb to the upper berth, wardrobe, TV,  dining table, 2 chairs etc, along with separate shower room,  wash basin with dressing mirror , WC etc.Ours was a normal &  standard room. I could not contain my amazement like how they could accommodate everything in such a tiny room and the cruise could accommodate about 1000 people. The local TV  was demonstrating the safety procedures in case of emergency and also the amenities available in cruise like swimming pool, restaturants , entertainments etc.




Standard room for 3 accomodation


Single large window in room to look through  


There was a single large closed & transparent  glass window which gave a beautiful view of the sea outside and the high rise buildings on the shore.



High rise buildings viewed from the cruise 

 The cruise started moving at the onset of the evening. The high rise buildings on the shore started to give a different look , so dazzling with different color bright lights. The view was spectacular in that pleasant windy evening creating more & more awe in us . It was a real feast to the eyes. We had a more enhanced view from the topmost deck of the ship.



Spectacular view from the upper deck of the cruise in the evening.








View from the upper deck of cruise


We all had a great time , walking around the top deck, enjoying the sea breeze,gazing at the far away mountains, well lit up high rise buildings , sea water , vast dark sky which encompassed us on all sides like a thick blanket.


And that was a very special day , Ramzan day and easily we could spot the significant crescent and the star by it's side , more prominent in the clear dark sky.  Could capture those celestial objects in the camera too.  Wished heartily "Id Mubarak " for all the loving beings celebrating Ramzan .



Crescent moon & star captured on Ramzan day 






Star Cruise -Pisces name plate on the Cruise at top deck

















On the uppermost deck,  we could spot the name Pisces of the cruise and also could take a full round of the ship,  having a better and different view  of the ship with flags and peculiar structures .  Benches and tables were spread around on the deck  to sit and enjoy . Even I was tempted to sit there on the bench to enjoy the cold , calm & windy night .Very soon I found myself slipping into meditation for a few moment as the environment was conducive enough to go for it.  An open  swimming pool was in the 11th floor of the cruise. After 9'o clock,  they had restricted the entry to the top deck on all sides, for safety reasons, I think.

Dining place decorated , dazzling and busy 




The lunch,  dinner, supper and breakfast all were inclusive in the one night package. The Cruise dining place was in the 6th floor.The lift facility was there to reach there apart from the stairs.The food was arranged in a buffet setup.The ambience was just rightly set up with dazzling lights , decorative items,  and live dance performances to suit the luxury look of the cruise .  The Indian food was available in specified time schedule  as it was a weekend .




There were a lot of sea food delicacies which people especially kids seemed to savour and relish them to their heart's content.I just peeped in out of curiosity at all th items spread over there. Excited to find the prawns, duckmeat based dishes,  shelled oysters,  crabs,  pork, different type of eggs,shrimps, baked fish and many more unidentifiable seafood delicacies . The way they ate oysters was a great  sight to watch . They collected a small heap of them in their plates  ,they ate the cooked flesh inside and threw out the shells like how we used to eat peanuts and throw out the peanut shells. They seemed to have used mustard oil for  cooking which gave a peculiar taste & flavor to the food . Varieties of baked buns, pastries,  biscuits,  cakes were present in the buffet. I already had a very bad experience earlier tasting them during my China visit long back. So,  I safely avoided them and picked only the food stuffs which I was sure of  pure veg and consumed after having double confirmation with the chef over  there . Good that almost all were able to converse well in English in Hong Kong.

The late night slowly crept in. The Cruise 🚢 continued its journey deep inside the sea . But the Cruise was well awake with no signs of resting or sleeping. People were seen busy spending time in casinos, bars, entertainment zones ,dining areas etc  . The supper time was  11pm to 1.30am.The view was little more breathtaking, when glanced through the glass window in the room. We could see the waves of water surrounding the ship rubbing & clashing one against the other as the ship made its way into the deep sea far away from the island ,piercing the deep seas.  Also, one more unusual thing we experienced was the ship had started shaking intensely and we could feel the shake especially while moving around in the ship. I felt as though I was, walking like a drunkard.  Others in our group felt even more uneasy with the visible shakes and my husband was feeling very much uncomfortable due to that even while lying down.  And one in our group felt sea sickness too like she felt like vomiting, dizziness etc.But for others, the night sleep was very deep, as we felt like we were being rocked in a cradle .


Is that the cruise all about?

No, the center of attraction obviously was the casino , where people get themselves lost in gambling , drinking and smoking.. People were there till 5 am , it looked like .
 There were many other activities in the cruise like shops which sell jewelleries,  perfumes, lotions and watches, alcoholic drinks etc. There were entertainment zones which comprise of bars, dancing , multi cuisine restaurants etc.  Even there was a bollywood theme , dance performances etc.


The safety boat could be seen behind tied to the cruise  






For safety purpose during emergency conditions, there was a small boat tied on to the side of the cruise , which could be viewed from  one  window of the cruise.




The crowd also included lot of kids , who accompanied  their parents , were  enjoying  their  stay and the food very much. Even the elderly ones or the senior citizens seemed to enjoy the cruise as well.

We got an acquaintance with an Indian couple from Rajasthan ,who live in Hongkong for the last 8 years and had come there to spend their weekend in cruise for the first time. They said they are chartered accountants. They said Saravana bhavan and Sangeetha are their famous Indian eateries.


We also got to meet another youth from Surat , who does Diamond business in Hong Kong. He said he would stay 15days a month in HK for doing business and he added he would get visa for 15 days per month , once he would spend a night in cruise on  monthly basis.




Next day  very early morning, the cruise started it's way back to the shore and by the morning around 10am, it reached the shore.  I could manage to do my daily yoga and sudarshan Kriya practice in the morning  .The check out time is 11am. There was not much activity in the morning except to have breakfast and have a clear morning view of the sunrise in the midst of the breeze on the top deck clubbed with photo sessions . The yachts,  the speeding small boats, ships n the seas thrilled us the most when viewed from the top deck.




The topmost deck of the cruise

The cruise experience also invariably brought to my memory ,the childhood non detail story , Sindbad the sailor, wherein he would settle down on a small island on a ship wreckage in one of his voyages and at one point of time , he would find the island starting to  move , only after that he would realize, that was actually a big blue whale , which he had mistaken for an island. Can the cruise be compared to the moving island similar to that ? Yes said my heart. " No " said my mind. You see, the heart dwells in imagination and mind in actuality. 

























  


We made sure we  collected our passports and visas before checking out of the cruise and left the cruise with such an awe  feeling of having had the much talked about cruise experience for the first time ever in life and would remain as a lasting experience for the rest of our lives.




Bye Bye the majestic Pisces..

Thanks for your hospitality and fascinating presence...

The Regal oriental hotel of Hong Kong eagerly awaited our arrival that day late afternoon . 


To check the earlier post ,

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Heading for a hang around in Hongkong & Macau

  

Heading for a hang around in Hongkong & Macau


Tour Group to Hong Kong June 15,2018

The plan to 8 days trip to Hong Kong and Macau as a group of 15 ,all materialised with the initiative and a strong drive from a couple of people in the group, one needs a special mention .He is Mr. Ravi, who is my husband's Neyveli school friend , based in Bangalore now . He had already done many visits to Mount Kailash, Leh , Vaishnudevi,  Egypt tours , Europe tours, Singapore  etc and loves more adventures, trekking etc. 
We have joined  many trips with his family as a group earlier too within and outside India .
Mr. Ravi
Mr. Ravi has an innate ability to guide and lead the group efficiently throughout the trips in a very cool manner and with a smiling face too .

Friends from Chennai,  Bangalore,  Delhi, Dubai all gathered and joined to form  group of 5 families of 3 each ,all together  15 people at Hong Kong  with energy,  enthusiasm and excitement . Interesting to note that people with different mother tongues like Tamil,  Telugu,  Kannada & Baduga and belonging to  multiple  faiths all  got set on same path to experience fun  ,ready to kick start the tour. 


A small naughty  boy aged 12 years , two sweet and beautiful teen aged girls , one of whom is studying Biotech engg. in BITS,  Dubai  and two energetic young  boys and  a Paediatric Doctor from Dubai were all part of the group. 

Since we anticipated the difficulty of getting our native food of India over there , we already had packed some ready to eat food stuffs  in good amounts as a precautionary measure. Also we were prepared for a rainy and a very humid weather in Hong Kong as per the weather forecast of Google Man and were  carrying umbrellas, rain coats , Light clothes etc. 

Though initially,  I was a bit reluctant to join the tour,  my husband forcibly booked the tickets online and I slowly gained the momentum to set my foot  too on the track and prepared myself to get the best out of it.  

The first experience that was planned for us  was the one day Cruise experience in Hong Kong , soon after our  landing  in Hong Kong on June 16 . What's so special about the cruise?  
Let's see in the next post.. 

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