Cruising onboard Quantum of the Seas from the US

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Children love the pool on board the Royal Caribbean Cruise. Swipe to the left. #royalcaribbeancruise #quantumoftheseas2019 #quantumoftheseas #swimmingpool #swimmingpools

A post shared by DTan (@philin135) on Dec 7, 2019 at 6:53pm PST

Here is are some of the colorful children's pools onboard the Quantum of the Seas by The Royal Caribbean from Florida, the US. There was also a jacuzzi for the adults and children alike to get water massage. The view taken was from the outside and inside the ship as you swipe to the left or rather click on the button on the right side. The cruise was enjoyable and memorable. It was the first time we took this cruise from Matta Fair in Penang as it made its maiden voyage to stop by Penang's Swettenham Pier. There were about 15 decks or so if I can recall and this is the swimming pool deck. There are 5 free restaurants and 5 paid restaurants in Quantum of the Seas.

The complimentary restaurants are:
1. Windjammer Marketplace on Deck 14
2. Solarium Bistro on Deck 14
3. Cafe Two70 on Deck 5
4. Main Dining Rooms of Chic - Buffet, and Grande - A la Carte on Deck 3
5. My Time Dining on Deck 4

The paid specialty restaurants serving dinner only are as below. All on Deck 5:
1. Chef's Table
2. Chops Grille
3. Jamies Italian
4. Izumi Japanese Cuisine
5. Wonderland

We tried all the complimentary restaurants which were enough to cover our 4 days 3 nights cruise starting from 27th November 2019 till 30th November 2019.

Splendid Orange Orchids at Gardens by the Bay Flower Dome

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Dunno why such awesome orchids are called ‘duh’s crown’ at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. #gardensbythebay #gardensbythebaysingapore #gardensbythebayflowerdome

A post shared by DTan (@philin135) on Dec 3, 2019 at 5:37am PST

The above photo was snapped by me while on a short trip to Singapore. We visited Gardens by the Bay flower dome and I took the liberty to take these awesome orange orchids for posterity. I find it strange that they are nicknamed 'Duh's crown!' These orange orchids are genuine and carefully tended to with green fingers of the gardeners in the flower dome, a complete air-con building built of study glass where sunlight can penetrate through for photosynthesis - a process where plants make its own food out of oxygen, sunlight, and water. We need more greenery such as those planted in Singapore where there are no mountains except small Bukit Timah to run to in case of war! I just love the large repertoire of plants and flowers here. The flora and fauna make the ecosystem stable and sustainable.

Cool Vermilion Lamborghini Marque

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Lamborghini lucky draw display at Gurney Plaza atrium. #lamborghini #luckydraw #gurneyplazapenang

A post shared by DTan (@philin135) on Nov 15, 2019 at 6:50pm PST

Above is vermillion or bright orange-red colored marque of Lamborghini, a sleek sports car on display as a dangling carrot of lucky draw prize for anyone who buys a condo in Penang. I forgot who the developer was but it was displayed next to Ideal Property, selling affordable homes like Havana 'a and Queen Residences. If you click on the right button of the top picture, you will see more details of the premier sports car. Though I love the look and its chic design, I am a little worried of those who won this car accidentally know their heads on the low roof of the car, that is typical in all sports car with a higher center of gravity to move fast and turn at corners.

Cozy Ambiance at Coffee Signature

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A post shared by DTan (@philin135) on Nov 11, 2019 at 9:29am PST

Last night, the 3 of us, mom, spouse and myself had dinner at Coffee Signature - a restaurant for fine dining at an affordable price, or so as it was claimed. If you click on the right button in the middle of the picture, you will see the dishes we had: salmon with mango sauce, paired with asparagus and other veggies. My spouse had baked chicken with mushroom sauce topped with sliced Shitake mushrooms. Mom ordered the same dish as I did and the 3 of us have ginger lemon tea each. The ambiance was cozy with chandeliers and curtains embellishing the eatery. The owner was Dato Chew who used to open 8 Square Steamboat restaurant in Penang Times Square that was closed some time back since MBI wanted to use the space. 8 Square was nostalgic for me since my late dad used to love this place, absorbing the flower lights and kinetic lights, a beautiful view from his favorite table. Next month, will be dad's first death anniversary as he departed to be with Jesus on 17th December 2018 due to 5th cardiac arrest.

Now, mum is left and I want to make her life as pleasing as possible by bringing her out for dinners and giving her some allowance to spend. All women love shopping, don't they? Regardless of age.

Requested for 2 Rejected Housing Loans

After discussing with my family about the landed terrace house, my family is strongly against it, as the bank interests alone cost half a million dollars if paid in 20 years. Hence, I asked for bank rejection letters in order to get back my earnest deposit for 10 Denai Pinang 16 which cost $1.75M and another at 2A Denai Pinang 8, Phase 1 of Azira. It is located opposite Quayside and Straits Quay. It is a 2.5 storeys terrace house with a big garden or greenery behind but the porch can only accommodate 2 small cars. The owner of the first house, Mr. Lim, was elated when I decided to buy and promptly bought a $60k house for his daughter in Singapore. Now he is short of cash and I don't know what to do with him. I have requested 2 loan rejection letters and will get back my earnest deposit. The second one was the owner of Converse, apparently downgrading to sustain his struggling business with 4 outlets in Prangin Mall, Gurney Plaza, and Queensbay Mall, and another in Butterworth.

Sunway Cassia is a landed Semi-D house

I am contemplating buying a landed terrace house in Straits Quay, Tanjung Toking for 1.84 M after bargaining hard from 1.88 M. It is a 2.5 storeys high terrace house in a gated community in Phase 1. I also went house hunting in Sunway Cassia and IOI Stramaz Residences in Sungai Ara, but those places are a bit off for me since Sunway Cassia was facing a low-cost Malay apartment on the way to the gated guardhouse. Although the interior designing was superbly done and supposedly cost $250 k, the disadvantage was I saw a Malay vagabond hanging around the low-cost Malay apartment, which is a big no-no.

Sold off my 4 Umbrellas

I think it was a steal to sell 3 Golf umbrellas and 1 normal umbrella for $28. Well, I had to get rid of too many umbrellas given free especially by banks like the long golf umbrellas. They take up too much space and lie doing nothing as I have my own usual umbrellas that I put in the car for rainy days. With too many things, the place looks cluttered and now it is time I sell my stamps and first day covers collected since childhood. These will bring a premium if you have the time to do some research. There are the professional stamp sellers that will queue for first-day covers and mint sheets to sell at the right time whenever they are available at the post office.

Flew Back from Johor Bahru

I was in Johor Bahru yesterday, waking up as early at 4:20am to blog a little and then get ready to have breakfast and thereafter to the airport to catch the 7:00 am flight by Air Asia, which flies direct from Penang to Johor Bahru. We went there to collect a down payment cheque for sports courts to be completed in a timely manner. The boss also bought up the franchise of DoubleTree by Hilton in JB and also owned the next block which is a health specialist center. The meeting was fruitful and we spent hours at the site. I love the hospitality and the lunch treat of Hakka food consisting of all vegetables, tomato omelet and ginger steamed fish. Boy, it was filling and it seems that I ate for 2 meals! - lunch and dinner. We came back a little tired as the flight was delayed for 1 hour at the JB Senai International Airport.