NFMC TRI-NATION TOUR , DAY #2
Day one was exciting although physically a bit exhausting, involving long walks at the malls in the afternoon and Santosa Island in the evening. Nevertheless, that couldn’t dampen our spirits as we got together in late evening hours to celebrate the Birthdays of Mrs Padma Chary and Cdr Joseph Sukumar. Cdr Vijay Vadhera, Secy NFMC and the Tour OIC briefed us on the activities of the next Day and relaxed the morning routine for Breakfast and departure.
Day two was even more exhilarating and appeared more enjoyable as we boarded the luxury Bus after a sumptuous Breakfast. Looking at my Veteran’s Blazer an ex- Sqn Ldr from the Australian Airforce came and shook hands pleasantly at the breakfast point. Our tour Guide Sharyl was eagerly waiting at the Bus for our City tour and we departed at sharp 11 AM after the checkout from Copthorne. Sharyl in her charming voice welcomed us back and narrated to us the brief History of Singapore, how the name came about from Singapora and its present demography consisting 3/4th of third and fourth generation Chinese. She stopped at the Lake viewpoint next to the Esplanade indoor Auditorium famous for the IFFA awards. We had half an hour to explore the Lake view and snap ourselves against the wonderful backdrop of Mama Malaya and Baby Malaya that was being thronged by a lot of tourists and localites. Our next halt was the Chocolate Gallery and Sharyl honestly briefed us on what to buy and what to avoid. Veterans who had been blessed with grandchildren had no choice, other than to buy loads of variety chocolates.
Our next and the final halt was Changi harbour Cruise Terminal where all of us checked in our luggage, thanked and bid farewell to Sharyl, our beautiful tour Guide. The Dream Genting is one huge cruise liner with 19 Accom decks, that is about one and half times the length of our Aircraft Carrier. Since it’s a huge Floating Hotel having its own territorial integrity it necessitates its own immigration procedures, whereby the tourists are required to deposit their Passports, immigration cards and E-Visas after the mandatory Security checks. This takes time, but time is a leisure and passes unnoticed in a group. RAdm Chary and Cdr Vadhera had collected our documents and returned with our Red Genting Room cards that doubled as our Id proof and credit card for expenses onboard. It was a great experience checking into the cruise liner. All of us had been accommodated on the 9th Deck. We dumped our handbags at our respective Balcony State Rooms and headed for our inclusive Quarter-Deck Restaurant- LIDO, which is huge and has plenty of Buffet tables catering to all variety of exquisite tastes for a very large number of guests on board. Post Lunch we gathered at 6th Deck reception for the briefing of the Day and decided to watch the 7 pm Live evening show ‘China’s Got Talent’ . Meanwhile, Genting cast off on time at 5 pm and we went to the Quarter Top Deck for a fantastic view of leaving the harbour. Some ladies tried their hands at the Basketball, Table tennis an Obstacle course before returning for a turn-round for the evening show at the Zodiac. The Auditorium was huge with a seating capacity of over a thousand. The show was amazing and awesome. After the show, we once again gathered on the 6th floor Deck passing through alleyways of casinos and Bars and beautiful people thronging those. We were briefed on next day’s optional tour to Penang where we shall be arriving at 2pm on 27th Aug. Cmde Tarate and five more Veterans have opted for Penang excursion the next Day.
We decided to gather at the LIDO again for our Dinner after which the Ladies feet automatically tiptoed to the Dancefloor, next to the swimming pool outside. Soon Capt Sethi, Cdr Vadhera and Raj too followed and set the dance floor on Fire with their good ladies along with Mrs Gunjan Singh, Ms Amitha Vasanth and Drs Preeti & Binti. Undoubtedly Day#2 of the tour was more exhilarating and stupendous. Looking forward to the next Day onboard to explore the Genting further.
Dosto,
zindagi ki asli udan abhi baki hai,
zindagi ke kayi armaan abhi baki hain
Abhi toh napi hai ek muthi zameen humne,
Aage sara aasman baki hai...
Aage saara Samandar baki hai…
Shano Varuno….Jai Hind !
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