Merdeka! Merdeka! Happy 64th Independence Day, Malaysia! 31st August remains a very significant day to Malaysia as the country first gained independence on this day in 1957. How many of us can still remember all the patriotic-themed songs we have to memorize and sing it out in our childhood years at school during this month? ‘Tanggal 31…bulan lapan, lima puluh tujuh….’, ‘Keranamu kami mendakap tua, keranamu kami bangsa berjaya…’ or ‘Jalur Gemilang, di bawah naunganmu…Jalur Gemilang, kami semua bersatu…’.
Although we cannot remember most of the lyrics now already, but I’m certain that the spirit of patriotism is still strong in each of us no matter who we are and where we are now. We are Malaysians…who wish only the best for the country…who wish that the country can overcome this pandemic very soon…who wish that Malaysia remains strong, stable and harmonious. I may be living in overseas now but I’m still proud to call myself a Malaysian!
In other news, Malaysia did fairly well at the on-going Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games! So far, our country has already won 1 gold medal and 1 silver medal at the games which is scheduled to end this Sunday. Huge congratulations to the winning athletes and you have made us proud!
It’s 31st August today and so it’s the last day of the month! I have had a great and fulfilling month…I took a short break and went for a cruise to nowhere, played luge for the first time, watched Singapore’s National Day fireworks, closely followed the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games and all the intense political dramas of the country, completed a major design stage/milestone in my work and completed my Covid-19 vaccination (I’m fully vaccinated!). I really had an amazing and unforgettable time in this month alone! Awesome!
Here’s an video from YouTube by Aereon Wong that I have watched recently that I would like to share to my readers here. It’s a spectacular aerial video showing beautiful places in Malaysia in conjunction with the Independence Day celebration for you to enjoy. Those views are breathtaking, especially the one at 2.41 showing the Merdeka PNB118 Tower in the center view framed by the two spires of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. That is truly a money shot.
Yesterday was the day I’m officially fully vaccinated as it was exactly two weeks after I received my second dose of Covid-19 vaccine. That means I can finally dine in at indoor restaurants from yesterday onward based on latest Singapore’s Covid-19 regulations. I also planned for a quick trip to the Sentosa Island with my friend so that my itinerary yesterday outside would not be only limited to just a dinner.
We are all still able to get free ride to the Sentosa Island by the monorail as the offer is extended until end of next month. Before the outing, we decided to try the Skyline Luge Sentosa which is a luge and skyride system and we booked the tickets online including the reservation for 5pm timeslot. We reached the island an hour earlier and we decided to hop on to the complimentary beach shuttle that tours along the southern part of the island first before our reserved timeslot for the luge game. We go for one round to take in the views of the surrounding (beaches, outdoor activities, hotels, forests, etc).
It’s 5pm and it’s time for the main activity of the day; Skyline Luge. First, you will be brought up to the top of a hill by open-air skyride and then u played the luge to slide down back to the original destination. There are 4 tracks available and we bought the package for only 2 tracks. That is good enough. Each track is roughly over 600 metres long. I had quite a good fun there but would have preferred the tracks to be longer (it is too quick to complete a track). It also can be more thrilling with more turns and steeper slope but I understand that the game is designed for kids and elders as well. Hence, it’s better if they dedicate different tracks based on difficulty/thrill levels.
(Image above from Skyline Luge webpage)
After the game, we left the island and went to Chinatown instead for our dinner at one of the many Chinese restaurants in that area. We do really have to show our proof of vaccination from the TraceTogether app before allowed to dine in. After the meal, we went for a short walk around the area, snap some shots and had desserts before calling it a day. I also managed to catch a glimpse of the fireworks display from the National Day Parade (postponed from August 9th) which was underway at the Float, Marina Bay during my bus trip back home in the evening.
(Image above from The Straits Times)
Hope that you are having a great weekend too before all the hustle and bustle from work in the following week. By the way, it’s almost end of another month unknowingly.
What a joke! Just as we thought that Pakatan Harapan could seize this opportunity to take back the government when over 14 UMNO MPs withdrew support to the current government ruled by Perikatan Nasional that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on last Monday, things still didn’t go according to our wish.
Pakatan Harapan won the country’s general election in 2018 but fell in March 2020 after a number of MPs dropped out of the coalition and joined forces with the opposition to seize the government. This so called backdoor government that has betrayed the people’s mandate went on to rule with biggest ever cabinets (most useless too) and deliver extremely poor decisions during the current Covid-19 pandemic that leads to huge number of cases, deaths and prolonged lockdowns that failed in every levels. The country broke the record today again with over 23 000 cases in a single day.
With Bersatu holding on to major positions including the Prime Minister role, UMNO could no longer stand being ‘controlled’ by Bersatu and over 14 UMNO MPs withdrew their support to Perikatan Nasional officially last week. Muhyiddin Yassin lost the majority in the Parliament and had no option but to resign and he did to our satisfaction on last Monday due to his poor handling of Covid-19 crisis.
However, we went one full circle and back to square one in the end. Perikatan Nasional decided to endorse Ismail Sabri who was the former deputy prime minister (for less than 2 months!) under Muhyiddin Yassin’s cabinet and was a main figure in the country’s Covid-19 crisis management. The 14 UMNO MPs who withdrew support immediately returned. There we go…we have the same 114 Parliament members forming the government again. A wicked trick by UMNO to wrest the Prime Minister post and more power from Bersatu. And Bersatu now got to taste the betrayal they have once done to Pakatan and they still can continue to stand together with them for the sake of own political gain while sacrificing the whole country.
We are getting back the same team that runs the show for the past 1 year plus and brought us to near the top of worldwide charts of accumulative Covid-19 cases. Ismail Sabri is an experienced veteran politician but he failed in managing the country’s Covid-19 crisis. The worst thing is that he is a racist person with history of making plenty of remarks that are insensitive and rude to the Malaysian Chinese and Indians in the past. And now we are having him as the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia. Oh God! God please save Malaysia. The country is getting from bad to worse.
The main party which lost the general election now not only becomes part of the government but also successfully snatched the top job. Have to be impressed by all their dirty political plays and their thirst for power and corruption. It is also quite obvious that Anwar Ibrahim (opposition leader and also leader of Pakatan Harapan) was only used by Zahid (UMNO president) previously as a plot to intimidate Muhyiddin and to seize control. It worked. Zahid managed to fool him, making Anwar thinks that he has a ‘formidable and convincing majority’ which until now is no where to be seen. Lesson learnt; never trust anyone from people in the current government which is already illegitimate in the first place.
Pakatan Harapan has to wait for two more years for the next election and to come back stronger. The longer these same fellas run the government, the closer Malaysia is going to become a failed state. We got to witness a ‘new Malaysia’ in 2018 after the 14th general election. Thanks to the shameless few who jumped to the other side and caused the fall of Pakatan Harapan government, we have to endure the suffering from this incapable Perikatan Nasional government that prioritizes power and a particular race/religion over public health and everything else for at least another two more years.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
The pandemic-hit Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games came to an end today after over 2 weeks of great sport events involving over 11 000 worldwide athletes participating in 339 events in 33 sports. I managed to watch some of the events, particularly the ones involving our Malaysian athletes like badminton and cycling and other sports like synchronized swimming, gymnastics, athletics, diving, golf and sailing.
As expected, the closing ceremony was a very modest affair with no public spectators. The performers are as though they were random street performers simply brought into the stadium to perform for the ceremony. Small scale and low key performances that doesn’t reflect the true scale of this global event. Tokyo 2020 would have deliver exceptional opening and closing ceremonies if not for the pandemic which have led to a more somber and less extravagant ceremonies.
Anyway, the baton now passed to Paris which is the host city of the next edition of the Summer Olympic Games in 2024 (only 3 years from now). Let’s hope there will be no more pandemic by then. United States topped the overall medal tally with 39 golds, 41 silvers and 33 bronzes while China came closely behind at 2nd place with 38 golds, 32 silvers and 18 bronzes. The host nation, Japan came in third with 27 golds, 14 silvers and 17 bronzes (peak result for Japan due to home advantage for being the host nation).
Malaysia managed to win 1 silver and 1 bronze in this games. Although we still could not win our first ever Olympic gold medal, but at least we are not returning home empty handed. The silver medal came from Azizulhasni Awang in men’s keirin event (cycling) this morning and the bronze medal came from Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in men’s double event (badminton) earlier. A huge congratulation to them!
Hmm…why is it so hard for Malaysia to win a gold medal in the Olympics? The golds are within our reach in many past occasions and yet we couldn’t pull through in the end. The Malaysian athletes have did their best but there are always someone better and stronger from other countries. It shows that we need to really look into ways to further improve the performance of our athletes and it’s critical to nurture young talented athletes to get them ready for Paris 2024 and the future games. China sent athletes as young as 14 years old and even won gold medal (in women’s diving).
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
Hi all! How’s the weekend so far? It’s a longer weekend this week in Singapore due to the country’s 56th National Day celebration on this coming Monday (hence a public holiday)! There will be larger crowds expected outside despite the dining-in ban is still in effect until Tuesday, and hence please stay safe and maintain social distancing everyone!
I already witnessed massive crowd inside mall when I do takeaway for my dinner after my work yesterday’s evening. The crowd’s intensity is scarily similar to that during pre-Covid time. I had to wait over 1 hour for my takeaway food (so you see how busy it is!). It’s so crowded that social distancing is near impossible and not a single safe distancing ambassador is spotted in the entire duration when I was waiting for my takeaway.
Most of the residents in Singapore have completed the Covid-19 vaccination. To be exact, close to 70% of Singapore’s population are fully vaccinated as of today. I’m about to be included in that percentage too as I have just received my 2nd dose this morning and will only be considered as fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the 2nd dose.
Similarly to the last time when I took the first jab, it was a very quick vaccination process and so far, I only had mild pain to the injection site now. Unfortunately, no other major side effects like headache or fever. This longer weekend is also beneficial for me to get more rest after the injection. Go get your vaccination if you haven’t! It is to protect yourself from this coronavirus that has claimed over 4 million deaths and over 200 million infections worldwide.
That’s all for my post today.
Happy National Day, Singapore!
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
In the blink of an eye, my 4 days 3 nights cruise is over. I have disembarked from the ‘cruise to nowhere’ this morning and had just returned home wishing to have spend more days in the ship rather than returning so quickly to land and reality. I had an awesome time and experience on board the ship, which is named ‘World Dream’ and is owned by Genting Cruise Lines. It really does felt like I have went for a short travel or getaway with my friend.
1st Day (Sunday, 1st August 2021)
It was quite a long process for checking in before boarding the ship in the early afternoon at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre. First of all, we have to undergo an antigen rapid test (swab test that is much less intrusive and painless) at 1pm and wait for about 30 minutes before getting the result. It was of course a ‘negative’ result and only then we will be allowed to complete the check in procedures. There were various stops for Covid-19 checks, baggage check, immigration clearance, Tracey token (it is something like a TraceTogether token to be carried all the time in the ship) and cabin card collections, etc. However, the process was easy and quick. We managed to board the ship and enter our cabin (is a balcony stateroom) at around 2.30pm.
We immediately make booking for the pool and jacuzzi usage and to the 2 complimentary shows through the Dream Cruise mobile app due to the very limited capacity caused from the current Covid-19 restrictions. We watched both the shows today; ‘Vision’ which is a magic show by an European illusionist and ‘Faith’ which is the cruise’s signature show that features dances and artistic performances. Each of the show is 1 hour long. They are quite entertaining but I don’t quite get the storyline of the ‘Faith’ show.
We explored parts of the ship before calling it the day. By the way, due to current Phase 2 heightened alert in Singapore, we have to resort to having our meals only in our cabin. Limited variety of restaurants and food options during this period and only takeaways or room delivery is allowed. The food quality can be better from the free-of-charge restaurant (only 1 free restaurant this time). We also did tried on the food from other restaurant which we have to pay and those are unreasonably expensive.
2nd Day (Monday, 2nd August 2021)
We started the day by playing two complimentary virtual reality (VR) experience games. The games are free because they are covered from our purchase of the ‘Dream Boys’ show which will happen on the next day. The free VR games were quite lousy and quick though. It was my first time playing VR game too.
We spent most of the afternoon resting in the cabin and watch live broadcast of some sports in the on-going Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In late afternoon, we then proceed to dip into the jacuzzi and played the water slides. The ‘easy level’ water slide was already quite scary and thrilling for me.
I tried my luck with roulette at the casino on board the ship for an hour and won 100 dollars. Well, that was good to pay off part of the extra charges I have to bear for the cruise. I then went to play live Bingo game in the evening (30 dollars for one set of games that comes with 3 tickets). Didn’t have any luck on this one though.
3rd Day (3rd August 2021)
It was the day for most of the outdoor activities that we wanted to play. First, we went to the ropes course that ends with a zipline suspended above the ocean. Our over one-hour wait for this activity is very much worth it. Even the unusually brave uncles and aunties are attempting this. We also played the table tennis and I watched my friend attempting the rock climbing wall.
We played another Bingo game (still no luck and didn’t win anything) and went for a brief window shopping in the ship. We also spent quite a lot of time today just resting in the cabin and watching movies and the Olympic channel. We took the opportunity to catch the sunrise and sunset moments today too but the overwhelming clouds were blocking the beautiful views today.
In the evening, we went to catch the 5-minutes laser display show at the main pool deck before attending the ‘Dream Boys’ show which is our last activity on board the cruise. It costs 60 dollar (for front seat) and 50 dollar (for back seat) per pax and it features muscular and sexy men performing seductive moves and acts. This show will be particularly hot for the ladies. This is my first time watching this kind of show too (only for people above 18 years of age ya…).
4th Day (4th August 2021)
There is no more activity for the guests today as the ship will reach the port at 9am and we have to check out and disembark immediately after that. We had to settle all our bills, return the Tracey token, go through the typical immigration clearance and baggage check. We get to keep our own cabin card. It was a very quick and smooth disembarking process (took only 30 minutes).
That’s all for the highlight of my ‘seacation’ (sea+staycation). I won’t mind going for it in near future especially when Covid-19 restrictions are much more less severe. I am glad that I tried almost all the activities on board the ship (skipped those Japan-themed workshops and classes only and missed the live music performances), watched all the shows, and also had the chance to perfectly rest, chill and just enjoy the moment with the sea breeze and view.
Time flies very quickly when you had a good time. This is true. In total, I spent about 500 dollars (per pax) for this trip. The amount is still considered reasonable and above all, it is a much needed getaway for me to destress. In conclusion, I had an awesome and unforgettable experience on board World Dream ship during this 4-days 3 nights ‘cruise to nowhere’ trip. Worth it. Go try if you haven’t. I do recommend it.
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 