I WENT ASHORE ! ! !

Yep - I finally got a chance to drop the uniform and head ashore for a few hours. The Staff Captain onboard was great and told me I was good to go. So, ashore I went with Ben (Fleet Security Trainer) and Alet (Doctor) for some lunch and a bit of shopping in the clean city of Singapore. I kid you not, this place was extremely clean.

Did you know that it is a $1000 SGD (Singapore Dollars) fine for chewing gum! Yep, you can't even buy gum in the stores here and we had a bulletin circulated onboard cautioning us from taking any ashore. The city fines you for things we consider ridiculous. One of the slogan's on some souveniers reads, "Welcome to Singapore, it's a FINE city" or "Singapore is a FINE city". LOL...too funny.

So off we went to a very posh hotel and restaurant called RAFFLES. It dates back to Lord Raffle who was running the place back when Singapore belonged to India and was under British rule. The hotel reaks of British design but is very elegant. We had (of course) some Singapore Slings to drink with our Fish and Chips for lunch. All were very tasty and we enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs on land.

Back to the Harbourfront Mall for a bit of shopping for esentials before heading back to the ship. Today really was the first day I have taken any time ashore since joining the ship in Vancouver! Now granted people, don't get me wrong, generally we (SECO'S) don't get a lot of time ashore and we know this signing up so it isn't really a surprise or anything but it sure is nice when the boss grants you some time to unwind.

The Asian run, from my perspective is a very demanding and challenging one - other departments have it easy with ample free time to head ashore and with little to no similar concerns which I have with respect to ship's safety and security. However we are surviving and have a great Senior Management Team onboard. I don't know if I would rush out and volunteer for this run again though.

The temperatures are between 25 and 35 daily with a very intense humidity - it's a heavy and dense weight you can feel like someone is pushing down on your shoulders. Not as comfortable as I would like but I will run with it. The AC when you step back on board after walking the pier or coming back from tender operations is a welcome feeling.

I said Ben (Fleet Security Trainer) was aboard - he's come on to conduct our semi-annual refresher training with the team. Very nice chap - used to be a SECO before his move to Fleet Trainer. I am enjoying his company - keeps the evenings more social.

Well, enough for now - thought I would just post a short one and say hello, let you all know what's going on. Please keep in touch and take good care of one another!