Singapore Again

With the ship in port for the next two weeks, I had an interesting question. What was it I wanted to do with my liberty in Singapore? I knew my way around moderately well since the last port visit. I started the first night with laying around the pool at a club just outside of base relaxing. After all it was the middle of winter back in Japan. Singapore sits just north of the equator. I spent most of my time sight seeing and shopping although, I would discourage all that much shopping. Everything in Singapore is extremely expensive although they do sometimes offer discounts for foreigners. The movies are shown in English so I saw a movie with a group of friends while spending a few nights off the ship. The American Club was a nice retreat. Officers and Chiefs are welcome guests at all American Clubs worldwide, that was something I was not aware of prior to this visit. Considering how classy a club it is, that really is a very nice gesture. I was able to workout at the base gym and went back to the club just outside of base several times to hang out with sailors. MWR organized a party on the last day prior to leaving. The time off in a new port was nice but after two weeks, I was honestly ready for sea again.

INSERV Preps

The main point of this visit to Singapore was ship maintenance. Most of the work involved lagging and deck work. This work requires special technical assistance that is easiest to obtain in Singapore. Aside from those projects, the ships deck needed to be stripped, ground and repainted and the sides needed new paint for a conference coming in a few weeks. That event coming up would absorb much of the Supply Department's time while the maintenance projects were ongoing for the rest of the departments.

Every division contributed manpower to maintenance on the deck, while that was going on, I lead several stores onloads for everything from girl scout cookies to socks. All my stores had been depleted by the unexpected deployment so that was my main priority. I still had plenty of soda and Gatorade from Hong Kong so at least I was able to provide some basic items for the crew. This time my stores did not have to be trucked all the way across the island.

With stores on-loads completed and projects progressing, I was left to settle into an in-port routine again for the next two weeks. This would be our longest port visit by far, a length almost unheard of for ships visiting Singapore. I needed to start making plans for what I wanted to do in Singapore.

Simbawa

After negotiating the strait we moored at Simbawa. This base actually has an interesting history. Its origins date back to WWII when the Japanese crossed the strait to avoid the main coastal defenses. The British warships defending their territory left from the base to face off against a Japanese fleet. They were sunk by enemy aircraft and never played any part in the defense of Singapore. Ever since Singapore was liberated by allied forces, a strong British and American presence has remained here. The base itself is a British possession basically being leased by American forces. The bulk of personnel are American but while my ship was in port, we saw an Australian ship moor.

Simbawa is the largest Supply Base in Southeast Asia. I did not realize the extent of what that meant until I started running into Senior Supply Officers. I made it a point to meet with the Officers that I had not run into yet and got some great advice. Aside from official duties, I went shopping at the NEX for both ship and personal supplies and worked out at the gym. The main hangout point was a club at the entrance of the base. The crew was enjoying hanging out at the pool.

Simbawa is a nice base, although quite a bit smaller than Yokosuka and Changi where we moored previously. It was more laid back than either of the previously mentioned bases. It was nice to network with the Supply Corps Community, I do not have as many opportunities to meet and greet other Supply Officers on a forward deployed ship.