Wednesday, March 18, 2009
MSTD
had the opportunity to sail on RSS Resolution together with the Midshipmen from 6-14 mar. it was quite an eye-opener as i got to experience life onboard a navy ship.
on 6 mar, 14 of us flew over to Phuket where we were met by the XO and our guide (members of the ship's crew). for the first three days, the ship stayed in harbour and we were able to go for 'shore leave', where we were shuttled into town at about 1400hrs and only returned to the ship after 2200hrs. so it was r&r and shopping for us until we started sailing back from 9 mar.
unfortunately, or fortunately for us, the sea wasn't choppy at all and we didn't get to experience much rocking. you could barely feel the ship moving along unless you went onto the flight deck and could see how fast we were sailing.
generally, life onboard the ship wasn't very much different. of course, we didn't have access to the internet all the time, and we were more or less uncontactable without any mobile phone networks. but the food was pretty good, there were exercise facilities, you could watch dvds, read, the kids could still play soccer with the crew... the most annoying thing for me was that the ship's air-conditioning caused my nose to leak almost non-stop throughout the trip. either that or it was blocked. moisturisers are an essential item as well. i seem to have appeared darker due to the unforgiving sun. perhaps i didn't apply enough sunblock...
the ship's crew were all very warm and friendly. despite all the inconvenience we caused them, they were very helpful. one thing i realise is that when you are part of the ship's crew, you're almost like one big family. you really have to depend on each other as there's nowhere else to go!
i am glad to say i've managed to make the acquaintence of some of the crew and i've discovered that they are really nice people. this trip was some kind of early holiday for me and despite all the mad rush to complete my work before i set off, it was a good break for me to recharge. afterall, not everyone gets this kind of opportunity to sail with the Singapore Navy. :)
thank you RSS Resolution!
on 6 mar, 14 of us flew over to Phuket where we were met by the XO and our guide (members of the ship's crew). for the first three days, the ship stayed in harbour and we were able to go for 'shore leave', where we were shuttled into town at about 1400hrs and only returned to the ship after 2200hrs. so it was r&r and shopping for us until we started sailing back from 9 mar.
unfortunately, or fortunately for us, the sea wasn't choppy at all and we didn't get to experience much rocking. you could barely feel the ship moving along unless you went onto the flight deck and could see how fast we were sailing.
generally, life onboard the ship wasn't very much different. of course, we didn't have access to the internet all the time, and we were more or less uncontactable without any mobile phone networks. but the food was pretty good, there were exercise facilities, you could watch dvds, read, the kids could still play soccer with the crew... the most annoying thing for me was that the ship's air-conditioning caused my nose to leak almost non-stop throughout the trip. either that or it was blocked. moisturisers are an essential item as well. i seem to have appeared darker due to the unforgiving sun. perhaps i didn't apply enough sunblock...
the ship's crew were all very warm and friendly. despite all the inconvenience we caused them, they were very helpful. one thing i realise is that when you are part of the ship's crew, you're almost like one big family. you really have to depend on each other as there's nowhere else to go!
i am glad to say i've managed to make the acquaintence of some of the crew and i've discovered that they are really nice people. this trip was some kind of early holiday for me and despite all the mad rush to complete my work before i set off, it was a good break for me to recharge. afterall, not everyone gets this kind of opportunity to sail with the Singapore Navy. :)
thank you RSS Resolution!
