The Royal Caribbean Experience - Penang Port

On the 2nd day, we were too late to catch the sunrise. So we went to the open deck and soaked in all the breeze. Beautiful weather. There's one thing I like about cruise - that is away from the bustling of the cities life but into the vastness of the open sea.

We had our gym session before heading for breakfast. After which, we went back to the cabin and I fell asleep. Yes during our cruise vacation, my routine was sleep - eat - sleep - eat... that's explained our sudden weight increase in both mummy n Xiao Poh.

Lunch was late and I really savored all the salads and cut fruits. The bad point about cruise vacation is that you don't get fresh water and fresh vegetables and fruits. You can purchase bottled water which Royal Carribean is selling at USD 4.95 per 500mL of Evian water. We usually sneaked off to the water point at the gym and topped up our own bottle which was not recommended. Darren kept on saying we are drinking chlorinated water.

By then, our cruise ship was docked at the Penang Port. We bought an onshore exploration package at USD 27 per pax.

So here's Legend of the Seas berthed.

Our land tour was a quick 3.5 hours Penang hawker food fare exploration. First stop was at a local product shop which I bought a box of Bei Tei Soh for the office people. There wasn't much to buy. Then the coach brought us to sight see their beach front which I thought wasn't nice at all. Next up, was to their premium landed houses... okay these houses were really huge and the price tag was RM 10 millions onwards. Figure it out. Then we passed by their children park and finally our pit stop was their famous Penang Laksa, Chao Kwey Tiao and Chendol.

Their hawker stall was not like those in our sunny isle. They sort of do their cooking openly. This is the chao kwey tiao stall which is really popular with the locals and tourists. We waited for almost 30 minutes for our order.

Chendol stall that was also patronized by Phua Chu Kang & gang.

Penang laksa .... looking forward to an authentic bowl of it.

Our Chendol came really fast. Very coconut-ish... hmm I think SG version has more "liao" ingredients than theirs.

Penang Laksa was next. Now.. we are talking. Definitely different from our version. More yummy and less spicy. Unlike ours, sourish and spicy.

And the long waited Chao Kwey Tiao ... Surprise Surprise! Less oily and more fragnant. Our small plate had 2 prawns and one tiny cockle. I think their version is definitely healthier than ours.

After which, we went to the nearby Chowrasta market. There were rows and rows and shops and shops selling preserved prickles.

I have no idea why the locals like their preserved prickles so much.

But this caught our eyes.

Forbidden fruit - Chewing Gum. New flavour in green tea mint. Of course, we must buy one and try.

Our last stop was at Little India.

Was it a Saturday evening? Most of the shops were closed. There wasn't much to see or buy.

So we went back to the coach to enjoy the aircon.

Back at our cabin, there's a surprise for us!

Check this out! A doggy waiting for us!

Ahah... the stateroom attendant used towels and folded it into a dog. How nice!