On December 1, 2010 the sister ship of Oasis of the Seas will debut as Allure of the Seas. �She will share the title of the world�s largest and most revolutionary cruise ship with her sister ship.

Allure Of The Seas

An architectural marvel at sea, Allure of the Seas will span 16 decks, encompass 225,282 gross registered tons, carry 5,400 guests at double occupancy, and feature 2,700 staterooms.

Allure Of The Seas arrives at its new home in Florida

Allure of the Seas will tout Royal Caribbean�s exclusive neighborhood concept of seven distinct themed areas, which will include Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone.

Royal Promenade

Casino Royale

A Standard-Cabin

Allure of the Seas� inaugural voyage is a special four-night cruise, departing Port Everglades on December 1, 2010. The itinerary will feature two days at sea and a call at Labadee, Royal Caribbean private beach destination on the northern coast of Haiti.

Allure of the Seas will sail alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises every Sunday from her home port of Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale starting December 12, 2010.� The Eastern Caribbean voyages will call on St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Nassau.� The Western Caribbean Voyages will call on Falmouth, Jamaica�s new cruise port, Cozumel, and Labadee, Royal Caribbean�s private beach on Haiti. Both itineraries will feature three days at sea.

A view of Allure of the Seas

�Allure of the Seas will offer guests a new set of onboard amenities and entertainment and dining options that will help make a most memorable vacation,� said Lisa Bauer, senior vice president, Hotel Operations, Royal Caribbean International. �Though Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas are sister ships, each ship�s distinctive onboard experience will offer guests a wide selection of choices that appeals to every age and lifestyle. Throughout, guests will also enjoy the Royal treatment, delivered by every member of our world-renowned friendly and engaging staff and crew.�

One of the 24 restaurants on the ship

Allure will have many of the same features as Oasis except for a few special amenities:

� Boardwalk Dog House

� Ipod docking station in every stateroom

� Chicago Musical

� 3D movie screen

� Rita�s Cantina (Mexican Food Restaurant)

The Boardwalk Dog House is an outdoor hot-dog specialty counter located where the donut shop is on Oasis of the Seas. Guests can choose from traditional hot dogs, wieners, brats, sausages and other delicious linked meats and a variety of toppings to split a long bun.

Each stateroom aboard Allure of the Seas also will be equipped with an Apple Ipod dock for guests to set their own personal ambience.

The ship will feature one of Broadway’s longest-running and most recognizable theatrical productions, Chicago: The Musical, which will headline in the ship’s Amber Theater.

The phenomenon of 3-D movies adds a new dimension to Entertainment Place, thanks to specially equipped 3-D screens in the ship�s Amber Theater.

The 1300-seat Amber Theater

Combining the best of classic Mexican beach bars and Southern California�s famed taquerias, Rita�s Cantina will be a vibrant new restaurant in the Boardwalk neighborhood. Adults and kids alike will enjoy some of their favorite Mexican fare, such as shrimp ceviche tostadas, warm tortilla chips with salsa and fiesta guacamole, as well as entr�es, such as fajitas, fish tacos and Chipotle-style flautas. The more casual setting will be a favorite lunch, snack or dinner spot for guests seeking a flavorful fiesta. Rita�s Cantina also will boast some of the best and widest selection of margaritas at sea, offering both authentic and signature concoctions mixed with a choice from the extensive list of quality tequilas, served on the rocks or frozen in a variety of fruit-flavor combinations. In addition, Rita Cantina will introduce new nightlife to Boardwalk with live guitar music, drinks and dancing. Rita�s Cantina�s design will include large open breeze ways and an outdoor seating area complete with high top tables and stools.

The floating Starbucks Cafe is among a panoply of dining and entertainment options offered aboard Allure of the Seas. Coffee lovers looking for a bit of sea air flavor in their espresso or Frappuccino might want to sample the first Starbucks at sea

Starbucks aboard the ship

One of the world�s most recognizable fashion apparel companies, GUESS, also will debut its first flagship store at sea this December in Allure of the Seas� Royal Promenade neighborhood. Guests will enjoy the latest stylish handbags, wallets, watches, shoes, jewelry, eyewear and perfumes in one of the largest GUESS accessory stores. The GUESS Accessory boutique will be located in place of Focus Photo Shop on deck six.

Guests also will enjoy new complimentary onboard conveniences, such as guest services kiosks in the Royal Promenade where guests can instantly view, print or e-mail their SeaPass folio or their personal calendar, or check-in and print airline boarding passes.

China has become synonymous with copycat. China is always quick to copy any new idea or product that takes off anywhere in the world. To businessmen in China, the word “copyright” is definitely not in their dictionary. Just make a search for any branded products on Alibaba.com and you will find lots of suppliers in China who can sell you the products at a fraction of the cost of a genuine product. If you mention the concept of� intellectual property to businessmen in China, most of them would probably give you a blank stare, wondering whether you are trying to show off with some bombastic words.

Even oranges are not spared....there are "pirated" Sunkist oranges in China !

Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world. Its incredible success has not gone unnoticed by businessmen in China. Starbucks have officially spread its wings to China but that has not deterred some Chinese businessmen from cashing in on the Starbucks craze.

Starbucks logo

There is this coffee outlet in China’s Liuzhou that goes by the name “Star Fucks Coffe”. Oh my, they don’t even know how to spell coffee correctly! But take a close look at their logo and compare it with the Starbucks logo. The logo is almost identical to Starbucks except they have an additional two words “Porn Queen” under the logo. I wonder what sort of coffee they are selling. From the name, I would think their coffee probably contains some aphrodisiac like tongkat ali or Viagra. And drawing my conclusion from the two words “Porn Queen”, I won’t be surprised if their waitresses are all scantily dressed and perform “special service” for their customers. Their advertisement would probably convey this message: Have a Star Fucks coffe and be a star in bed! Sorry to disappoint you guys but the outlet did not really open for business…I guess it must have been a publicity stunt to attract tenants to the property.

Star Fucks Coffe....do you want a Cappucino Viagra or a Spring Return Latte or a Tongkat Ali Mocha?

There is also the Bucksstar Coffee in China. I wonder how a Bucksstar coffee would taste like. As bucks mean dollars, maybe drinking Bucksstar Coffee will bring you lots of bucks! So if you are in China, head down to Bucksstar!

Bucksstar Coffee..where the big bucks begin

And then there is this coffee outlet in a small town in Sarawak that goes by the name of Setarbak Kopi.� This goes to show that even in a small rural town in Sarawak, people are aware of Starbucks and someone used his creativity to come up with a name that does not contravene Starbucks’ copyrights.

Care for a Setarbak Kopi?

So what do you want? A Star Fucks, a Bucksstar or a Setarbak?

Malaysia, truly Asia. This little phrase is Tourism Malaysia�s slogan. Over the past many years, we have all been bombarded with this slogan from Tourism Malaysia�s billboard, radio and TV ad to the point that some people are finding it annoying. And in the past two years or so, we have been bombarded by the 1Malaysia campaign. Malaysians are a funny lot. I propose another slogan for Malaysia. 1FunnyMalaysia, truly Lat Lah!

1Funny Malaysia

Malaysia's most popular cartoon character Lat

See how funny Malaysians can be!

Malaysian Starbucks

Who in the right mind would want to press the durians?

A Malaysian balancing act

A giant Malaysian bumblebee

The Malaysian government's drive to encourage reading is so successful that Malaysian dogs also know how to read!

Malaysian higher education?

The advantage of being a male in Malaysia!

Malaysian shopper

Another Malaysian shopper

Shopping Malaysian style

A rich Malaysian telling the whole world about his wealth

A no-signboard coffeeshop in Malaysia

A stool for males

Malaysian helmet

Two Wong Fei Hong visit Malaysia

Malaysia, truly Lat!

Last week my wife, my mother-in-law, two of my sister-in-laws and I dropped by Imperial Hotel to try out their Snack+Coffee Super Hot Deal which is available between 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm everyday at the Imperial Restaurant . A couple of my friends have told me that it is a good offer.

For RM4.99, you get a cup of hot tea or coffee plus a piece of snack of your choice.� And if you are a Boulevard Family Card holder, you will get a 10% discount. They have 4 snacks for you to choose from: chocolate moist cake with cheese, Mediterranean croissant, tiramisu cheese cake and grilled chicken sandwich with corn pepper bread.

We ordered 2 slices of chocolate moist cake with cheese, 1 slice of tiramisu cheese cake and 2 pieces of Mediterranean croissants. I only tasted the cakes but not the Mediterranean croissant. The cakes were nice though the chocolate moist cake was a bit too sweet.

Chocolate moist cake with cheese

Tiramisu cheese cake

Mediterranean croissant

The bill came to only RM22.45 ( USD 6.60) after the 10% discount. It was really a fantastic deal. If you are meeting someone for a discussion in the afternoon, you might want to consider meeting at the Imperial Restaurant. The cool and quiet ambience is way better than say Secret Recipe or Starbucks. And the cost is just a fraction of what it would cost at Secret Recipe or Starbucks.