Staying at Mandarin Oriental on Saturday for 1 Night

I have to wake up at 5:15am tomorrow in order to leave the place by 6:00am to catch a flight with boarding time at 7:35am to Kuala Lumpur. My partner has an interview with an architect and on Saturday, we will head off to Mandarin Oriental Hotel to stay using the last 50% Elite Club Voucher that expires in February 2017. My spouse has already renewed the Elite Club membership for $888 for another year. After checking out, we will head to my small condo in Rhythm Avenue to rest before catching a plane back to Penang in the evening. I just pray for journey mercies and that the interview would be successful.

Orchids Odyssey at Gurney Plaza Penang

Orchids decorations have been splendidly displayed in an aisle along the new block of Gurney Plaza Penang building. Above is a shot of pretty orange orchids odyssey in a pot to spruce up the place with pizzazz and pomp. Chinese New Year is just around the corner, less than a month away, falling on the 28th and 29th January 2017 on a weekend. Since M Mall was set up early this year, I guess there has been silent competition amongst premier malls to decorate their place with nothing but the best attractions to pull in customers and tourists dollars.

The purple orchids above are more commonly seen in various places, especially Singapore where the orchid is their national flower. These flowers and plants need lots of sunshine and tender loving care with watering every day as the roots are exposed and normally placed in a pot of charcoal to hold the plants. One can never go wrong with orchids as these flowers are unique and takes more effort to plant and tend to.

Above is a full blossom of yellow orchids as part of the decoration which seems to compete for attention this year in Penang amongst the different malls. Tourist dollars are very lucrative and they are big spenders. Having changed to the country's currency, they will spend all of it and splurge on expensive souvenirs to bring back as momentos.

Here is a myriad of colours of the various orchid species placed together in this odyssey along the aisle. They look refreshing and gorgeous with a bursting display of colours. The green leaves are long and hard, succulent with water and photosynthesizes with the sun light and oxygen to make food needed for the orchid plants to grow healthily. If you love to see orchid flowers, then take a trip down to Penang’s Gurney Plaza Mall to digest in the beautiful sights specially arranged prior to Chinese New Year 2017.

1 Night Cruise on SuperStar Libra

On Christmas Eve, 24th December 2016, I spend a night cruise to the high seas on Genting's SuperStar Libra which departed from Swettenhem Pier, Penang. You can park your car nearby the private carpark and the counters were opened at 5:30pm in the evening for checking in to the ship. You have to surrender your NRIC and they will give you a card for all payment transactions on board the ship.

This was taken from deck 5 where the Christmas decorations were with Santa in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer in the center of the ship on deck 4 where you enter after scanning your bags for security reasons. Bright sparkling ornaments were used to decorate the atrium.

This was the entrance to the Chinese Restaurant which was heavily carpeted for a luxe feel and ambiance. Again, you had to scan your card given in exchange for your NRIC and a table number will be assigned based on the number of people. You could also request for window seat or center table where all the food were placed.

Since it was Christmas Eve, a nice gingerbread house with white icing and colourful candies was offered. A turkey with a plethora of vegetables on the side was also part of the food for the evening. It was semi-buffet with unlimited helping of Christmas chocolate log cake, salad, drinks, etc.

As it was Chinese set meal, we had vegetables with mushrooms and small abalones, fried prawns, steamed chicken, braised beancurd, soup and rice. You could also request for extra helping of the vegetables at no extra charge. The idea is to make you happy to come back and gamble; but for us, it was pure holiday on Christmas Eve and gambling was a no-no, so that we don't lose money unnecessarily and spoil the cruise which cost RM 868 for 2 persons. The price was hiked up on a peak season like during Christmas eve; otherwise, it would normally be around RM 500++ including port tax of RM 100.

This christmas tree was placed in the atrium where the counter are. It stands majestically and bedecked with sparkling baubles, tinsels and other groovy ornaments with the star of Bethlehem right at the top.

This was the duty free shop selling branded women's handbags, perfume, cosmetics, etc.

Above was my partner and myself in a casual chic blouse and pants.



Above was the video I took for the late night Christmas Eve performance by the crew. The ship captain gave a short speech followed by cake cutting for the crew. Thereafter, this was followed by caroling choir by a local church with a pastor and finally the lively performance by young foreigners. The spectators were given Christmas toys to blow and Santa hats of various designs much earlier, especially for the children.

We enjoyed our cruise to the high seas on Christmas eve till Christmas where we departed at around 11:00am after a buffet breakfast at the same Chinese restaurant. There were several other restaurants with one on the top deck with open air and swimming pool to cater to the larger than expected crowd. It was pure fun and joy and a Christmas that I will remember.

Check Your Credit Report for Free

You can sign up and check your credit report at this link here >> https://www.mycreditinfo.com.my/ which is free for first 2 years for basic report which is where the banks will use to see if your bank loan and credit card approval is successful or not. For the more comprehensive report, it shows your credit card payment habits and it will automatically state whether it is strong or weak for loan approval and payments. For the comprehensive report, you have to pay RM 10 and RM 5 for the less detailed report. The payment merchant is iPay88 where you can choose to pay by online banking or via your credit card with OTP sent to your registered handphone for confirmation. You can do an online search on Google for RAMCI and i-Score to give you the link above which I found.

Penang Ushers in Christmas Magic in 2016

Christmas is celebrated every 25th of December to welcome the birth of baby Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus came to save the world from sin and eternal damnation in hell. His resurrection power on the cross defeated the power of Satan once and for all; giving mankind hope and eternity in heaven. We are reconciled with Our Heavenly Father through Jesus' finished work on the cross - his death and resurrection to heaven.

Christmas is also a time for merry-making and you will notice lots of sales as it has become commercialized. During this season's greetings, much festivity and celebration goes around the world. Here in Penang, we also usher in Christmas in 2016 that is drawing to a close at the end of the year. The above picture was taken at the upscale Quayside Condominium's management office where a relative owns a unit of over 3,000 sq ft. It is left vacant and she stays in Singapore.

The above is Whatsapp photo of my second sister's father-in-law's hobby of collecting gnomes in Southampton, United Kingdom. The red hats resemble those of Santa Claus, except that they are not Santa and don't give you presents! Google defines a gnome as a legendary dwarfish creature supposed to guard the earth's treasures underground.

Here is my snapshot of suspended Santa Claus made from small round balloons and glued together at M Mall in Penang Times Square. M Mall is an upcoming mall that started early this year and has attracted lots of tourists from China by the bus loads to come here shopping and redeem their M Points for items from shops or for dining. They also sell high-end women's genuine handbags like Prada, Gucci, and many other costly brands.

The colours of Christmas are mainly red and green. Here, I took the opportunity to add this little floor decoration at M Mall with such colours of Christmas plus purple orchids. The red flowers are known in several names - 'valentine's flower', 'mother-in-law's tongue' and 'naughty boys'.

This photo was also taken at Penang Times Square Phase 1 which is linked to M Mall in Phase 2. I am seated in a gondola on 'water' like those in Venice where I visited in 2013 in Europe together with my sisters. Notice the many potted poinsettias of red petals like leaves decorating the border of the balcony on the floor. The potted poinsettias flowers are beautiful in bold red. These flowers are commonly used as decorations during Christmas around the world as they associate with the Christmas feel and colours.

Gurney Plaza in Penang adopted a glamorous black and gold theme for its Christmas decorations this year where the photo above was taken. The mall unveiled a 10m tall steel structure Christmas tree at its main atrium and adorned it with bulbs and ornaments. It placed many gift boxes beneath the tree. The main tree was surrounded by smaller trees and sparkling decor with large baubles. There was also a performance by a carolling group.

I took this selfie with one of the smaller Christmas trees in Gurney Plaza that is adorned with lots of gold baubles including gold poinsettias and white lace draping from a star at the top of the tree right to the bottom where the presents are placed.

This was taken at Daiman in Subang Jaya. The large egg signifies creation like Christmas and is painted in pink and purple orchids. They certainly attract my attention for photo-taking for posterity.

This was taken in Sunway Pyramid Hotel's lobby. The Christmas tree is certainly adorned with colourful sparkling baubles and ribbons of red and green. It is another selfie of mine while my partner was waiting in the queue to check into the hotel recently.

This is a miniature version of the larger Christmas tree placed atop a table in Giant hypermarket, along Burmah Road, Penang. Here, you get to see a full picture of the Christmas tree where shopping increases by year end as employees get their fat bonuses to buy things for their loves ones and friends. This is the spirit of Christmas - to give and to receive and it is more Blessed to give than to receive. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings this 2016.

Merry Christmas 2016!

Christmas is drawing near and now it is the month of December - the time where you get your bonus and school holidays are here and you get more time to spend with your kids. Everywhere I go, it seems to be crowded and packed with cars. I would like to wish all my readers here a Very Merry Christmas in 2016 that is drawing to a close. It is time for season's greetings and merry-making. It is also a time to give and to receive. Let us celebrate Jesus' birth on 25th December who came as a Saviour to mankind and defeated the evil one, once and for all. The resurrection power on the cross gave us eternity in heaven when we are called to be with our Maker.

Christmas is Just Around the Corner

It's that time of the year again where people go shopping, travel, take a short break with their families and just enjoy Christmas. I plan to travel but haven't decided yet within Malaysia. It is the time you get your bonuses to save up for retirement or just splurge a bit to pamper yourself like getting a new bag, go for that spa or facial massage, etc. At this time also, I normally get a Christmas gift from my youngest sister like a bottle of perfume or something. She is thoughtful and will spend buying and wrapping up Christmas gifts for her family and church friends. I don't follow this tradition but rather spend the time with my partner perhaps in Genting Highlands or go for a cruise to the high seas.